Markis Hart

A documentary about the case was produced by 1091 Media on April 7, 2020 titled A Thread of Deceit: The Hart Family Tragedy

The Hart family murder was a March 2018 murder-suicide by alleged child abusers Jennifer and Sarah Hart, who murdered their six adopted children by driving the family's SUV off a cliff in California.

The DeKalbs were also in contact with Devonte Hart after this incident, who was constantly begging for food, and for the DeKalbs not to tell Jen about these requests. In later conversations with Devonte, he told them that his mothers withheld food as punishment, and that they were “sometimes” abused. This, combined with the earlier incident with Hannah, made the DeKalbs report the Harts to Child Protective Services. CPS workers tried to reach the Harts twice - once on March 23, 2018 (three days before the crash) and once on March 26 (the day of the crash).

On Monday, March 26, 2018, Jennifer and Sarah Hart, and six of their children died when an SUV driven by Jennifer Hart drove over a 100-foot (30 m) cliff on Highway 1, in Mendocino County, California, near Westport. Jennifer and Sarah Hart, both 38, who were in the front seats, died. The bodies of five of the children (Hannah, 16; Markis, 19; Jeremiah, 14; Abigail, 14; and Ciera, 12) were found in or nearby the vehicle, that landed upside down on a Pacific Ocean beach. The body of Devonte, 15, has not been found. A superior court judge ruled that Devonte was in the vehicle at the time of the crash, and a death certificate was signed on April 3, 2019.

The Hart family moved to Woodland in 2017, next to the DeKalb family. In August of that year, Hannah Hart jumped out of her bedroom window at around 1:30 to try and contact the DeKalbs, saying, “Don’t make me go back! They’re racists and they abuse us!”. Soon afterwards, Jen and Sarah found Hannah, and brought her back home. Jen later attempted to explain this by saying that Hannah was lying, that the children occasionally acted out because they were "drug babies", and that Hannah's biological mother was bipolar. The DeKalb family still reported this incident to the authorities.

Prior to the murders, Devonte Hart was 12 years old when he came into the national spotlight when he was photographed crying as he embraced a police officer during a 2014 Ferguson protest. The image became known as the "hug felt 'round the world."

Jennifer Hart was very active on social media and used Facebook to portray an image of a loving, happy family while also sharing her thoughts on race, politics, and trips the family went on. This helped mask some of the problems in the family. One allegation of child abuse in 2013 touched upon Jennifer Hart's use of Facebook, saying that, “...the kids pose and are made to look like one big happy family, but after the photo event, they go back to looking lifeless.”

In 2013, authorities in Oregon had begun their own investigation into the Hart family, after being notified of the allegations in Minnesota. This investigation included separate interviews of everyone in the family, as well as interviews of people who knew the family.

Authorities found that the SUV had been intentionally driven off the edge of the cliff. The case was later ruled a murder–suicide, as all members of a coroner's jury decided that the destruction of the vehicle and its occupants was on purpose. The jury had debated the issue for about an hour, and a definitive finding required a majority of the jurors. The jury was made up of eight women and six men. The inquest was called to determine cause of death, and not any responsibility in the civil or criminal fields. The California Highway Patrol emailed Glamour magazine, stating that criminal prosecution was not possible due to the deaths of any responsible parties.

In 2010, Abigail Hart said that she had "owies" on her back and stomach. The incident was supposedly over a penny - Abigail said she had found it, but Sarah and Jennifer didn't believe her. According to Abigail, this led to her head being held under cold water, while being punched and hit by Jennifer Hart. When the authorities got involved, all children claimed that they had been spanked constantly and had food withheld from them. Sarah, however, took responsibility for the abuse, plead guilty to assault, and was sentenced to community service for a year. Abigail at the time, along with some siblings, was enrolled in Woodland Elementary School, with the remainder enrolled in other schools of Alexandria Public Schools.

In 2008, while the family was living in Minnesota, Hannah Hart was seen with bruises on her left arm, and when a teacher had asked about it, she said she had been hit by Jennifer with a belt. Within months, all six children had been pulled out of the public school system for a year.

Abigail (born 2003), Hannah Jean (born 2002), and Markis Hart (born 1998) were adopted from Colorado County, Texas; the placement came on March 4, 2006. The children's biological parent(s) had their parental rights canceled by a court in Harris County, Texas in August, and the formal adoption came in September. In June 2008 they adopted three additional children, Ciera Maija, Devonte Jordan, and Jeremiah Hart. Devonte, Jeremiah, and Ciera were born in 2002, 2004, and 2005, respectively, and originated from Houston. Their biological mother lost custody as she had substance abuse problems with crack cocaine. Each of the children had a different biological father. They were given to an aunt under the condition that they have no contact with their biological mother, but the aunt allowed the biological mother to babysit the children, and a case worker observed this; therefore the aunt lost custody. She attempted to obtain permanent custody of the children, but the courts prevented her from doing so. Ciera later became known under the spelling "Sierra" although legally her name's spelling was not changed.

The women began their relationship at the university; on Facebook Jennifer stated that the women were initially in the closet and faced ostracism once they publicly outed themselves, prompting their moves. They moved to Alexandria, Minnesota in 2004, were subsequently residents of West Linn, Oregon, and Woodland, Washington; and had six adopted children during their lives. The couple was living in Woodland at the time of the crash. In 2005 Sarah asked the local court to have her family name altered to match her partner's. They went to Connecticut to be married in 2009; at the time gay marriage was not yet legal in every state. Jennifer worked miscellaneous jobs until she became a stay-at-home mother in 2006, while Sarah worked as a manager at a Herberger's shop in Alexandria, and later at a Kohl's in Hazel Dell, Washington. The Harts received funds from the state of Texas, covering their children. Almost 50% of the family income was made up of Texas funding.

Jennifer Jean "Jen" Hart originated from Huron, South Dakota, and Sarah Margaret Hart (née Sarah Margaret Gengler) originated from Big Stone City, South Dakota. They were both born in 1979 Jennifer Hart attended Huron High School (South Dakota) and Sarah attended high school in Minnesota. Some sources described Ortonville, Minnesota, adjacent to Big Stone City, as Sarah Hart's hometown. The two women attended Northern State University; Sarah initially attended University of Minnesota-Twin Cities for one semester before transferring and Jennifer had transferred from Augustana University. Both women majored in elementary education, with the latter focusing on special education. The former did not graduate, while the latter did. The two women were no longer university students after 2002.