Overview
- The guilty verdict came in the 2024 death of 17-month-old Hannah Yonko, who fell from a third-floor Galveston hotel balcony and had stab wounds, according to police and court records.
- Prosecutors did not seek the death penalty, making the life sentence without parole automatic under Texas law for capital murder of a child under 10.
- Jurors deliberated less than an hour before returning the capital murder verdict, the Galveston County District Attorney's Office said.
- Key evidence included surveillance video of the balcony fall, forensic findings of stab wounds, a trash-bagged knife and matching room key, and a psychiatrist’s testimony that Yonko admitted stabbing and throwing the child while diagnosed with major depressive disorder that may have evolved into psychosis.
- Prosecutors cited an attempted Uber request immediately after the incident as proof Yonko knew the act was wrong, and the defense has filed a notice of appeal.