Death penalty sought for woman charged with murdering her children

ITALY – An Ellis County grand jury indicted the 25-year-old Forney woman late last week on three capital murder charges for the alleged murder of three of her children in early March.

Shamaiya Deyonshana Hall had five felony charges when the grand jury returned the three indictments against her for capital murder. 

A statement in March released by the Ellis County Sheriff’s Department had reported on March 3, Texas Child Protective Services arrived at a home in the 300 block of Harris Street to conduct a home visit.

During that visit, the CPS Investigator made the decision to remove Hall’s five children from the home. The caseworker called the Ellis County Sheriff 911 dispatch at around 4 p.m. 

Italy Police Department was dispatched to the residence and arrived at approximately 4:05 p.m.

When the officer arrived, the three critically injured children inside the residence were discovered; Legend Chappell, 6, Alayiah Martin, 5, and Ayden Martin, 5. All three had been stabbed with a knife. 

Additionally, the grand jury returned two indictments for the attempted murder of Hall’s two youngest children, a 4-year-old boy and a 13-month-old girl.

Following the indictments, County and District Attorney Ann Montgomery filed the State’s notice of intent to seek the death penalty for Hall in the capital murder cases.

First Assistant County and District Attorney Cynthia Walker, Chief Felony Prosecutor Grace Pandithurai, and Felony Prosecutor Kevin Boneberg have been assigned to prosecute the cases.