In the late hours of January 23, 2010, Lester Hobbs murdered Tonya Hobbs and kidnapped her seven year old daughter Aja Daniell Johnson. Neither Lester nor Aja, and not even the car authorities believe Lester escaped in, have been seen since. While the Amber Alert that was issued on Aja the next day has been featured here at The Hinky Meter since the onset of the search for little Aja, it is worth reviewing a few key points that have been released by authorities concerning the murder of Tonya Hobbs, and the abduction of Aja Johnson.
This murder and abduction took place in Geronimo, Oklahoma in the southwest corner of Oklahoma. Geronimo is a small town just south of Lawton, Oklahoma. The murder took place in a mobile home park, and more specifically, in an RV that was parked just outside the mobile home of Lester Hobbs’ sister and her family. The RV was mere feet from the mobile home that Lester’s sister, Mildred Anderson, her husband and her children were in. They state they were completely unaware when Lester Hobbs bludgeoned Tonya to death with what authorities believe was a hammer. And they state they were totally unaware that Lester had then left with a child they themselves say they witnessed Lester abusing in the past.
Now to give the Andersons some measure of benefit of the doubt, the bludgeoning of Tonya Hobbs could have occurred while Tonya was sleeping. Authorities state she was lying on the couch when Lester bashed her head in, repeatedly, with a hammer. Maybe he decided to perpetrate her murder while she lay sleeping and the first blow rendered her unable to even scream. And MAYBE Lester Hobbs was able to complete the murder of Tonya without little Aja knowing at all. But probably not. Remember, this was a small, one room RV. Authorities state they suspect Aja was actually lying right next to her mother when the brutal murder took place, but even if she weren’t, Aja would not have been more than 12 feet from her mother during this murder. It is very hard to believe that Aja did not scream out at the sight of her abuser viciously murdering her protector…her mother.
But again, giving the Andersons the benefit of the doubt, maybe Aja awoke to the killing of her mother and went into total shock. Maybe she never screamed out as Lester repeatedly struck her mother. Maybe she lay there in fear-induced silence…in that thin-walled RV, in that small yard, next to that thin-walled mobile home. And maybe, when Lester finished murdering her mother and grabbed Aja (undoubtedly without love in his embrace) and drug her to that car, in that small yard, just outside that thin-walled mobile home the Andersons lay asleep in, she didn’t once scream for help.
So the Andersons, primarily Mildred, Lester’s sister, claim they went most of the day of Sunday, January 24th, still unaware that Tonya Hobbs lay dead in that RV in their yard. In fact, it wasn’t until 9 pm that evening that Mildred went and unlocked the RV, because Tonya’s car had been gone all day, and they hadn’t seen any sign of Tonya, Lester or Aja. That’s when Mildred claims she first discovered Tonya’s bloody, beaten dead body. That’s when Mildred found no sign of Lester or Aja, and that’s when Mildred contacted the police.
While we have heard from Aja’s father, J.J. Johnson, and while we have heard from Tonya’s family who state Lester was abusive to Aja and “hated her”, we haven’t heard a word from the Anderson family who lay mere feet from the crime scene. That is, not until now. On March 5th the Andersons finally spoke with KSWO news out of Lawton, Oklahoma. And it is my personal opinion, they have flunked the test since day one concerning Aja Johnson.
First we must note that while Tonya’s family was begging for Aja’s safe return, and while J.J. Johnson was begging for his daughter’s safe return, Mildred Anderson, Lester’s own sister, never once took to a microphone in the 40 days prior to the KSWO interview to beg her brother to release Aja back to her family. In those critical first days when I’m sure Lester Hobbs was much more concerned about where authorities were looking for him than he is now, she didn’t try to reason via the media with a brother who apparently was close enough to her to be allowed to camp in her front yard. In those first critical days when strangers from across the country watched for a 1992 white Toyota Paseo, Mildred Anderson was NOT utilizing the multiple media outlets available to her to implore her brother to please not hurt Aja, and to just drop her some where that she could be found and returned to her father.
Nope – March 5th is when Mildred finally decided to speak to some one publicly. And the interview is NOT impressive. First mark against Mildred Anderson is her admission that she witnessed the abuse of Tonya Hobbs and Aja Johnson by her brother and never let any authoritative agency know so that someone could intervene. In fact, she doesn’t even state, as she recalls seeing the abuse of Tonya and Aja, that she, herself, attempted to intervene. I would think if you are going to start confessing the witnessing of a child’s abuse by your own brother, and you HAD attempted to put a stop to it, an interview with a news agency would be the first place to get that information out. The lack of a statement by Mildred Anderson tells me – she didn’t try to stop it.
But I’ll give her another “benefit of doubt” – maybe she was scared to death of brother Lester. Maybe she just didn’t know how to handle it and protect herself and her own children. Maybe, instead of me assuming her husband is a spineless coward, that both Mildred and her husband thought Lester was so dangerous that he might sneak into their home in the middle of the night with what appears to be his weapon of choice – a hammer – and bludgeon them all to death.
BUT – I’ve just ran out of “benefit of doubt” tickets for this family. Because the rest of their wrong answers can’t be forgiven. Both Mildred and her husband have refused repeated attempts by authorities to get them to take polygraphs. They state their refusal is because several attorneys have advised them not to. Interesting. Inexcusable…and mixed with a fair measure of deserved Hinky.
But I think the point where Mildred, as far as I’m concerned, becomes complicit in the situation of the authorities being unable to find her murderous, loathsome brother, comes at the end of the interview. And by the way, Mildred contacted the news agency and requested the interview, and this is the message she had for her brother:
if her brother contacts her she will let him come to her house only so the authorities would know where he was.
You just flunked, Mildred. You appear to be the most likely person Lester may have eventually reached out to by phone or whatever means in the future when he becomes desperate and requires help. You were Aja’s ONE CHANCE at the capture of her kidnapper, her abuser, and most likely her murderer. And you just requested an interview to give him a message to NEVER call you, because you’ll just turn him into the cops.
*golf clap*
Valhall.
P.S. To the OSBI – if you’re reading. I hope you’re looking in the area around Lake Thunderbird. I hope to God you’re looking for this child’s abductor.
Related posts:
- Aja Johnson Case: What we know
- AMBER ALERT: Aja Johnson, 7-year old girl, Geronimo, Oklahoma – Updated 02/26/10
- Aja Danielle Johnson: In Memoriam
- Carol Daniels’ Family and DA Burns criticize handling of Case
- Missing: The Jamison Family of Eufala, Oklahoma
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