The Misery Machine - The Case of October Perez

Episode Date: April 11, 2024

This week, Drewby and Yergy discuss the case of October Perez, a little girl from Montana who was killed by her mother's new boyfriend, David Hyslop. October was forced to sleep on a broken bed in a filthy basement, and suffered a catastrophic spinal cord fracture at the hands of this monster. Support Our Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/themiserymachinePayPal: https://www.paypal.me/themiserymachineJoin Our Facebook Group: https://t.co/DeSZIIMgXs?amp=1Instagram: miserymachinepodcastTwitter: misery_podcastDiscord: https://discord.gg/kCCzjZM#themiserymachine #podcast #truecrimeSource Material:https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/child-abuse/2014/06/26/death-toddler-october-perez-hyslop-guilty/11392877/https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8PK92chvNUhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pATe0MBLbdY&t=0s https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?set=a.711955448938749.1073742081.267163020084663&paipv=0&eav=AfajqlJMzbWWTbUBufAC1blp26JjMB1MkaHyiji4Bxd6pdPGvSjJXfsFaB7RBMznLkg&_rdr https://www.greatfallstribune.com/story/news/2019/03/26/hyslop-killing-october-perez-alleges-ineffective-counsel/3279253002/https://www.facebook.com/watch/?v=3573515906058857 https://law.justia.com/cases/montana/supreme-court/2013/da-12-0513.html Court documenthttps://www.findagrave.com/memorial/72327216/october-ann-perez https://www.facebook.com/tobyshousemthttps://tobyshousemt.org/https://www.montanarightnow.com/great-falls/good-samaritan-tobys-house-helping-families-in-need/article_a546bd40-ff36-11ed-986f-138354d31587.htmlhttps://www.newspapers.com/image/243311677/?terms=october%20perez%20david%20hyslop&match=1https://www.newspapers.com/image/243293356/?terms=october%20perez%20david%20hyslop&match=1https://www.newspapers.com/image/243303313/?terms=october%20perez%20david%20hyslop&match=1https://www.newspapers.com/image/239786915/?terms=october%20perez%20david%20hyslop&match=1https://www.newspapers.com/image/239764805/?terms=october%20perez%20david%20hyslop

October Ann Perez was born on January 10th, 2009 to Mother Christy Perez. At the time, Christy was married to a man named Freddie, but he was not October's father. A DNA test would later show that a soldier named Michael Arndt was October's father. This ended up being the wedge that caused Christy and Freddie to split. Freddy moved out of their home, leaving their son to live with Christy. However, by the time October's paternity was revealed, Michael was deployed to Afghanistan. While Michael was deployed, his mother April Hall acted as his power of attorney.

She was also the person who had visitation with October, who she called Toby, on Michael's behalf. October was her only grandchild. By 2011, Chrissy was dating a man named David Hyslop. They lived together in a very small house at 1305 Fourth Avenue South in Great Falls, Montana. In the home was also David's brother Kendall and his feet. fiance, Janetta, as well as October and her half-brother. They also had two large dogs. Due to the fact that the tiny one-bedroom house had six people and two large dogs living in it,

and many of the adults were using drugs, the house fell into a disgusting state. As October approached her second birthday, her grandmother, April, became increasingly worried about the living conditions. Every time October arrived for a visit, she had fresh injuries and she was covered in filth. April's first order of business was always to bathe her and give her clean clothes while she washed the clothes she came in. One interview April insinuated that she had to be very careful what she sent October home with because anything in nice or new condition could be resold or returned for drug money. According to April, whenever October was due to visit, she would get a call minutes before

her arrival to explain an injury that October had acquired. Christy would either describe an accident or claim that she had no idea how the injury happened. She would later go on to say that the injuries only occurred when October was home with David. On one such occasion, October arrived in her lips and the inside of her mouth were covered in cuts. April meticulously documented and photographed all of these injuries. October's father, Michael, returned home for a two-week leave on January 11th, 2011, just one day after October 2nd birthday. April was eager to meet her son at the airport with his only daughter. When April went to pick October up, Janetta, the other woman living in the home, roughly handed October off to April without a winter

coat and shut the door in her face. Christy was also supposed to be coming to the airport, so April put October in the car and waited. Finally, Christy came out and told April that she needed to keep October while Christy worked on moving out of that dangerous home. April gladly took October home with her. During Michael's visit, he was finally able to get the paternity test to prove that he was indeed October's father. This began the official legal push for him to get custody of his daughter and to get her out of David Highslop's home. This was also around the time that April made the first call to the Department of Family Services. April reported the numerous injuries and bruises that she saw on her granddaughter. October's older brother had always

also disclosed to April that he had seen the adults in the home using drugs. The intake caseworker was very responsive and immediately set up a home visit to check on the living situation. Meanwhile, October was living her best life with her Grammy. A legal representative would later say that April's house must have felt like Disneyland compared to the home that she was previously living in. October loved to play in the snow in April's yard. She especially loved the sound of snow crunching under her boots. She'd climb up and down four-foot snowdrifts in her cozy care bear Halloween costume, playing endlessly with no regard whatsoever for the cold.

At two years old, October barely spoke. April was working hard to teach her how to talk. They read books, told stories, and spent lots of time together. One of the few words that October could say was Dadda. Despite her loving relationship with her grandma April, she never learned how to say her name. When she was with April, she had food, a clean place to sleep, in toys like a pink big wheel tricycle to ride through the house.

April said she just loved to play, especially with April's golden retriever. He fought over toys like they were siblings. October loved dancing to music with her aunt. She loved playing in the bathtub with her rubber ducky, so she built with blocks and preferred playing over watching television. October's regular weekend visits always ended with a change of clothes. April said that when she put October back into the freshly washed clothes that she had arrived in, October's whole demeanor would change.

She knew that this meant she was leaving the safety of her grandmother's house. Dread and disappointment was clear every time. After all, the home that October was returning to could barely be called that. The sheer number of people in the tiny house, Christy, David, October, and possibly her brother all slept in an unfinished basement. And only was the basement unfinished, the walls were crumbling and leaking water. Video footage from the house shows marijuana plants, absolutely filthy conditions, and the officer filming said she could barely be in the house due to the smell.

October slept on a broken bed frame with a ripped mattress and no sheet. She slept between the washer and dryer in the open flame furnace and right next to a sewer drain in the floor. Her bed was surrounded by soiled diapers. The fridge was full of maggots. The floor drain October slept next to had even been used as a toilet. The walls in the house were covered in a layer of brown filth that dripped down the walls, likely from years of smoking and lack of cleanliness in the home. After April's initial report to DFS, Chrissy was angry.

Over the next few months, she would withhold visitation from April for various amounts of time. It appears that by this point, October's brother had been removed from the home and gone to live with his father. April continued to get updates on October's condition from Freddie and from Chrissy's mother, Jamie Phipps. On one occasion, Jamie even snuck October outside so that April could see her. Unfortunately, what April saw was her sweet granddaughter covered in scratches. At the beginning of February, April was granted a visit with her granddaughter. However, when April got October home and tried to get her out of the car, she was crying in agony. April could not get her granddaughter out of her car seat because October was so distressed.

April knew something was wrong and called Chris. Christy to insist that they take October to the hospital. While they waited in the ER to be seen, October sat with April while Christy left repeatedly to go outside and smoke. They were eventually able to see a doctor who ordered an x-ray. They discovered that October's arm was broken. Once again, Christy left to go outside and smoke, and this gave April the opportunity she needed to advocate for October. She begged the hospital staff to report the injury to DFS. She explained Christy's hesitation to bring October to the hospital and felt like it was more than a little suspicious.

DFS was called and October was placed with April for an emergency custody while investigation was done. October's case was being managed by a caseworker named Rachel Zinn. Unlike the intake caseworker who had initially been very helpful and adamant on investigating Christy, Rachel did not seem at all concerned. April tried to show Rachel pictures of previous injuries such as bruising. and scratches. Rachel refused to see that evidence, seemingly intent on doing her own investigation. While October was in April's custody following the broken arm, Rachel Zinnz called the clinic and scheduled a follow-up. When April brought October to the appointment, they did a full-body scan

and discovered that her other arm had been previously broken and was already healing. There was no medical record of this, meaning it did not receive treatment. Both doctors that saw October that day, Dr. Pike and Dr. Maynard stayed in their reports, the breaks were both suspicious and probably not accidental. Even with this discovery, Rachel Zins called April to say that she, her supervisor Rod Hausman, and the county attorney John Parker, had met and determined that there was not enough evidence to keep October out of her mother's home. She gave April 20 minutes to return October to Christy. April later learned that there was never a meeting with the county attorney. He had never met with Rachel Zins and no one else in his office.

had met with her either. After October went back to Chrissy's home, April once again was without contact for a long period of time. Chrissy was refusing to let April have her visitation on her son's behalf. For the next two months, while October's arm was healing, Rachel Zins was supposedly in Christy's home for three hours a week working with the family and checking in October. However, considering the photos we have seen of the home, it seems very unlikely that Rachel was doing these visits. Or possibly she just came into the main floor of the home and never looked at the basement where October was living. It is hard to believe that a state social worker could have seen the space that October was sleeping in and deemed it as an appropriate accommodation for her.

It's important to note that some sources also claim that David Hyslop had previously lost custody of his own children in Oklahoma. We're unsure if this is true, as his lawyer later said those claims were fabricated. It's unclear to us if those claims came from one false claim and were repeated by other sources, or if David's lawyer wasn't being truthful. Two months after the broken arm, Christy finally allowed April to see her granddaughter for April's birthday. April's joy soon turned to despair. When her precious granddaughter arrived, not only was she filthy, she had a tooth knocked out and a chunk of hair missing from the top of her head. She also reeked of weed. She tried to claim that the hair loss was due to a medical condition.

If this was true, April wanted to get to the root of the problem. Childless young should not be losing her hair, especially in chunks like that. April took her to get blood work done and to see a nurse practitioner, but no medical cause was found for her hair loss. October was two years old and four months at the time. On that day, April, her sister, and her mother all got to see October, and they were all deeply worried for her. April immediately called DFS again. Rachel was once again unconcerned by the reports April was making. April and their sister took it upon themselves to go visit Rachel at DFS.

Initially, they were treated very poorly because they did not have an appointment. However, rudeness was not enough to deter April from advocating for her grandchild. For a long wait, Rachel agreed to see them. Talked for 30 minutes. April worked for a dentist and asked that she be allowed to take October to get her tooth to be looked at. Rachel and Christy both pushed back, would not allow April to take October to the dentist. Remember, at this time October was just over two years old, so a missing tooth was not normal. According to the Mayo Clinic, on average, children do not begin losing their teeth until around six years old.

If a toddler is missing a tooth, it could only be from the result of major dental neglect or trauma to the mouth. You would think, given her previous broken bones, this would be a major cause for concern. Unfortunately, Rachel Zins did not seem to care. For the next month, April fought to get custody paperwork done on the behalf of her son and hopes that he could take her as soon as he got home. Michael was due to return from his deployment in August. The assumption was that it would be much easier to gain custody or regular visitation once he was home. Michael's lawyer in April developed a parenting plan, shortly at the time.

after April's birthday visit, Chrissy was served paperwork for the parenting plan. This enraged Christy, and she never allowed April to see her granddaughter again. April and her sister persisted with DFS to try to get care for October. In June, Chrissy's estranged husband called April to share photos that Christy had sent him of October. He reported to April that at this time, October was missing three teeth. April called her lawyer who reached out to multiple people at DFS, as well as the police. lease for a welfare check. October's dad, Chrissy's husband, April, April sister, and the lawyer all called Rachel and central intake to make reports, but once again, nothing was done.

There was almost nothing known about what October endured in the months after April's birthday, but judging by the discoveries, it was a nightmare. On June 23, 2011, after two months without seeing her Grammy, October was brought to the hospital by ambulance and critical condition. October had been home with David, Kendall, and Janetta, while Christy was out of class. Some sources say she was taking nursing classes, and others say she was in a course to become an EMT.

David had been in charge of caring for October that afternoon. His brother Kendall Highslop recounted to the police that David had taken October downstairs and put her for a nap around 3 p.m. While he was down in the unfinished basement, Kendall heard David screaming and yelling. He then heard several loud thumps, followed by October moaning and gurgling as though she were choking on water.

David came up shortly after. When Kendall asked him about the thumps he claimed he had hit his head on something in the basement. October was still in the basement when Christy came home three hours later. She could hear October whimpering and crying. David told her that October was just having a nightmare. Instead of checking on her daughter, Christy and David went out to get food. When they returned home, the couple engaged in intimacy, presumably on their mattress just feet from where October lay injured. Finally, after her daughter had laid alone and ignored in the basement for hours, Christy attempted to wake her up.

October was unresponsive by that point. A 911 call was made by Christy. She told dispatchers, she's breathing and she's limp, but she won't open her eyes. October was rushed to the hospital where it was noted that at arrival her body was rigid, not limp, a telltale sign of a major brain injury. April, who was in New York at the time on a trip, received a phone call from Christy's mother to report that October was injured.

She told April that October had fallen and bumped her head in the basement. Just immediately the story changed and April was told that she had fallen and bumped her head on a side. Since April was out of town, she sent her niece, who was a nurse, to the hospital on her behalf to see October. Meanwhile, April called everyone she could think of, including her son and DFS. However, a nurse at the hospital had already made a report about the injuries. When April's niece called back, she warned April to prepare herself because they did not think October was going to survive. This was not just a bump on the head. The hospital October was at did not have the level of care that she needed, so they

sent her to the Children's Hospital in Salt Lake City on June 24th. October's heart stopped twice as they attempted to transport her and get her stable. At that point, Michael was trying his hardest to get home to see his daughter. October had severe trauma to her brain and spine. Unfortunately, her condition continued to worsen. It was clear very quickly to medical professionals that the injuries to October's body were catastrophic. October was kept on life support to allow her to donate her order. She died on June 25th as the donation surgery was over.

Michael did not make it home to see her before she died. Before October was pronounced dead, lead investigator Noah Scott identified David Highslop as the primary suspect. On the evening of June 23rd, David had been home with October and was the adult in charge of her at the time of her injuries. Initially, when October was brought to the hospital, David had claimed that she might have eaten some bad hot dogs. dogs. However, this was clearly not a case of food poisoning. During his interrogation,

David changed his story to say that he had accidentally dropped her while putting her to bed. Detectives were rightfully critical of this change in story. After all, accidents happen all the time. However, as we have said before in other cases, people who are present for an accident panic and call 911 when a child is injured. If people ignore an injured child, it probably was not an accident. The autopsy performed on October did not tell a tale of a child who was accidentally dropped either. Even with the horrific conditions in the concrete floor on the basement, a simple fall was not what had caused her fatal injuries. Trauma to October's head caused blood to pool in her skull and her brain to swell. In addition,

medical examiner at least noted an, as he called it, unusual and catastrophic spinal injury. Again, this injury was not consistent with a fall or a drop. The medical examiner's best guess was that October's body had been forcefully bent backwards over a hard object. In addition, both her big toes and smallest toes were broken. She had a separate spinal injury that had occurred several days prior to her death. It was already in the early stages of healing. She also had too many bruises to count. She had cut on the side of her head and numerous older injuries in various stages of healing. A leading CA expert later stated during the trial that October October's broken back was the worst she had ever seen in a child.

David was arrested on June 24th and held on $750,000 bail. He was initially charged with attempted homicide, which was later upgraded to deliberate homicide after October was pronounced dead. In July of 2011, David pled not guilty to these charges. October's funeral was held on Saturday, July 2nd, at the Schneider funeral home in Great Falls, Montana. October was displayed for the guests as though she were asleep on a bed. She wore a pink dress with flowers along the hem. She had on clean white sandals and had a wreath of flowers around her head. Despite copious amounts of makeup, you could still see the bruises littering her body.

On the day following the funeral, a celebration of life and a rally against CA was held near April's house. At the rally, a petition was set up for people to sign. This petition was to establish an appeal process for people who disagreed with a decision made by DFS. Michael's family felt very strongly that October's case had been grossly mishandled by Rachel Zins at DFS and hoped to make changes for future children. David's trial started on April 23rd, 2012. The trial included testimony from April, Christy, Kendall, and many expert witnesses and lasted nearly two weeks. The evidence against David was fairly damning. Even David's lawyer, Vince Vanderhagen, admitted there was no way her injuries could have been the result of an accident.

However, his defense argument for David was that he was not the only adult in the house and was either entirely innocent or that the other adults were at least somewhat at fault. While we agree that David was clearly not the only adult guilty of neglect in this situation, it did not mean he was innocent of the catastrophic injuries that took October's life. May 4th, 2012, after just a few hours of deliberation, the jury came back with a guilty verdict. During the sentencing hearing, the prosecution was pushing for a hundred-year life sentence without parole. October's father, Michael, did not want David to get the death penalty because he wanted him to suffer in prison. On the other hand, David's lawyer was pushing for the minimum sentence of just 10 years, still insisting that David was not the only party responsible for October's death.

Luckily, this case was overseen by Cascade County District Judge Julie Masek. She sentenced David to 100 years in prison without the possibility of parole. During sentencing, she spoke for several minutes about the horror that October must have endured. She also said that October didn't get a second chance, so David didn't deserve one either. She also felt it was unfair to October's family to be endless, dragged through parole hearings in the future. Though Michael's family was relieved that David was found guilty and given a life sentence, they were not completely satisfied.

They felt that there were many responsible parties in October's death. There were months of warning signs that Rachel Zins and other DFS workers did not take seriously. They felt at the very least Chrissy would have to be guilty of neglect by letting her daughter stay in the care of someone she thought was injuring her child for months before her death. Unfortunately, as far as we can tell, no one else was ever charged or prosecuted for any other crimes surrounding October's death. David attempted to appeal to verdict seven years after October's death, but his appeal was denied. Rachel Zinn's thankfully no longer works for the Department of Family Services. After she left the agency, she worked as a social worker at a nursing home in Great Falls, Missouri. She'd worked there before her position with DFS and then returned after the horrific mishandum.

of October's case. Some sources had called the department an accomplice in October's death, and we would be inclined to agree. In one article, October was remembered as being a little girl who blew kisses to her family members. A family member fondly recalled October licking her hands during her last Christmas and sticking them into the sugar cookie crumbs left on a pan, then licking her hands and then delightfully sticking them onto the pan again. If October were still alive today, she would be 15 years old. After October's death, her grandmother April spent years working with politicians to try and change legislation to help prevent future CA deaths. But in a truly inspiring endeavor in honor of her granddaughter's memory, April founded Toby's house. Now, we often see an

initial uproar after the death of a child, but more often than not, the initial cry for change fades rather quickly. Sometimes we see families start foundations or non-profits, but they often fold within the first few years. In contrast, April's idea for Toby's house was to be an emergency nursery for families in need. They call themselves a non-profit crisis nursery. The idea was that any parent could drop off a child to be cared for, thus creating a safe avenue to seek care if a child is in a dangerous situation. Toby's house took nearly 10 years to open. It seems that those years gave them. a time to establish a sustainable plan to make Toby's house an option for years to come. Toby's house has opened 8 a.m. till midnight for children up to six years old.

The director also encourages families to call the 988 crisis hotline if they are in crisis during the hours that Toby's house is closed. They can almost always find a way to get help to that family, even if it's in the middle of the night. Toby's house has become an invaluable resource to Great Falls families who are transitioning from one job to another, living in a dangerous situation, or suddenly have a new child in their custody. A nonprofit that aims to help working parents is thanking the community for its generosity. After years of work, Toby's house opened their doors three weeks ago.

In their first month, they've helped numerous parents and families with daycare needs and toiletries all free of charge. Executive Director Susie Zeeke says the community has provided everything from cleaning supplies and diapers to clothing donations, food and blankets. The organization is dedicated to preventing child abuse and neglect following the death of October Perez, also known as Toby, who passed away in 2011 after being abused by her mother's boyfriend. Since then, she says a group of professionals has worked tirelessly to turn the crisis nursery into reality, so working parents have a safe, free option for their children. And they felt that if parents had a resource to bring their children to, a free, respite,

shelter care for them to bring their children to, for us to take care of, that that that that would help curb the child abuse and neglect in our community. Toby's House hopes to expand their hours of operation this year. We'll have more on the crisis nursery's impact in the community during its first month open tonight at 10. In the three years that Toby's house has been open, they have served around 446 children, providing them with a safe and caring environment.

According to their website, in their third year, they gave away over 1,000 of clothing and assisted over 800 families with necessities like formula and diapers. The crisis nursery has been funded by a number of grants, donations, and community fundraisers. We just want to extend our sincerest thanks and congratulations to April Hall and the people who helped get Toby's house up and running. This is a truly remarkable accomplishment. Hopefully, more communities will follow your lead. What a truly beautiful way to honor that precious little girl that you lost.