Mother of 4-year-old boy who died in Broward over 11 years ago faces murder trial

FORT LAUDERDALE, Florida. – Antwan “AJ” Hope, Jr. was four years old when he died in Broward County over 11 years ago. His maternal grandmother, Shaunte Rivers, and his paternal grandmother, Sharon Walker, both reported that his mother, Destene Simmons, tried to smother him with a pillow years before his death.

Rivers said Simmons suffered from schizophrenia and depression. Simmons, now 34, was in the Broward Central Jail in Fort Lauderdale on Saturday and was charged with first-degree murder and aggravated child abuse. Officers from the Broward Sheriff's Office arrested her on Friday.

Simmons appeared before District Judge Joseph Murphy III. Attorney Devika Carr, a public defender, requested a mental health evaluation from Murphy. Murphy ordered an examination. Assistant District Attorney David Steinberg asked about her defense. Murphy appointed a public defender.

“The court advises the defendant at this time that he may not speak to anyone about this case without the presence of his attorney,” Murphy told Simmons in court.

Simmons' court appearance on Saturday lasted about one minute and 12 seconds. Local 10 News covered Antwan's death in detail in 2013.

Antwan had just finished preschool when Simmons, then 23, called and hung up on 911 several times on June 10, 2013, before finally asking for police to come to her Coral Springs home. The officers who arrived found Antwan dead.

Before the tragedy, the Florida Department of Children and Families had been investigating Simmons for alleged child abuse. The department removed Antwan from his parents' home in 2011 and temporarily placed him with his aunt, Deborah Jackson.

While the investigation was ongoing, Antwan's father, Antwan Hope Sr., blamed DCF and ChildNet, a DCF contractor, for his son being alone with Simmons. Jackson agreed.

“They left him for dead,” Jackson told the Miami Herald after the boy’s death.

In court on Saturday morning, Murphy denied Simmons' bail on the murder charge and set her bail on the aggravated child abuse charge at $25,000.

This is a developing story. Local 10 News Assignment Desk Editor Joyce Grace Ortega and Planning Editor Frine Gomez contributed to this report.

Archive (2013)