A Florida City mother is back behind bars, this time facing a felony charge in the death of her 5-year-old daughter, who was fatally shot inside their home two months ago. Ashley Marie Hosendove, 32, was arrested Wednesday and booked into a Miami-Dade jail on a charge of aggravated manslaughter tied to the June shooting death of her daughter, Ja'nova Parks.
The shooting happened around 1:55 a.m. on June 10 at a home on the 1400 block of NW 1st Court in Florida City, according to Miami-Dade County. Officers arrived to find Ja'nova with a gunshot wound to her torso; she was airlifted to HCA Florida Kendall Trauma Center, where she later died. As CBS News Miami reports, Hosendove is now in jail weeks after her daughter's death, following a lengthy investigation into what happened that night.
Five people were inside the home at the time of the shooting, including three adults and two children — Ja'nova and her 4-year-old brother, according to the county's account. Emergency dispatch audio from the initial response, obtained via Broadcastify and relayed by Crime Watch America on Facebook, indicated the 5-year-old had suffered a gunshot wound to the stomach after potentially shooting herself.
An Earlier, Unrelated Arrest
Hosendove was not immediately charged in connection with her daughter's death back in June. Instead, she was taken into custody that day on an unrelated bench warrant stemming from a March disorderly conduct charge, and she was released on bond the following day while homicide detectives continued investigating the shooting, per the same account. That gap between her initial, unrelated arrest and Wednesday's manslaughter charge reflects the two months investigators spent building their case.
Major violent crime and homicide investigations in Florida City fall under the authority of the Miami-Dade Sheriff's Office Homicide Bureau, which took over the case from Florida City police officers who first responded to the scene, per Miami-Dade County. The wording of the new charge, aggravated manslaughter, indicates investigators ultimately determined that criminal negligence played a role in the child's death.
Family Called It “Carelessness”
Ja'nova's grandmother, Latisha Ellison, spoke out on the day of the shooting, describing it as stemming from carelessness. She said her grandchildren had been taught that guns were dangerous and would not have knowingly played with a firearm.
The case unfolds against the backdrop of Florida's safe storage law. Under Florida Statute § 790.174, gun owners are required to keep loaded firearms in a securely locked box or secured with a trigger lock if they know or should know that a minor under 16 could gain unsupervised access, according to the Florida Senate. The same statute establishes criminal liability when a minor under 16 gains access to an unsecured firearm and possesses or exhibits it in a public or reckless manner, per Florida Statutes as compiled by FindLaw.
Part of a Wider Pattern in Miami-Dade
Ja'nova's death is not an isolated incident in the region. In May, a 6-year-old boy in Southwest Miami-Dade was hospitalized after accidentally shooting himself with his mother's gun, according to NBC 6 — a case that, alongside Ja'nova's death, points to a recurring pattern of young children accessing unsecured firearms in the county.
Hosendove remains held in Miami-Dade County jail following Wednesday's booking. No further court dates have been detailed in available reporting.
