Genesis Sims’ Mom Troubled By Mistakes In Murder Case
The mother of a little girl whose remains were found in the crawlspace of a Monument home said she doesn’t believe justice was served for her daughter.
Jopetia Garretson’s ex, Hanif Sims, was accused of murdering their daughter Genesis, but struck a deal with prosecutors Monday. Sims plead guilty to child abuse resulting in death, admitting in court that he could have saved the little girl if he had called 911. He’ll be sentenced in April to 27 to 40 years in prison.
“I don’t think 27 to 40 years is good enough,” said Garreston.”Part of me wishes it would have still went to trial.”
Garretson said she believes Sims got off easy because of big mistakes by investigators. Garretson said prosecutors asked her about the plea bargain and she agreed to it, but said she was also told that mistakes by the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office lead to the deal.
“I was told that police screwing up is the reason why a plea deal basically had to be offered,” said Garretson. “And pray that Hanif would take it.”
It’s something District Attorney Dan May said isn’t true. May said mistakes by investigators had nothing to do with the deal.
“No, this was a plea deal worked out by the parties that we felt was fair under the circumstances,” said May.
Last week, the judge in the case considered dismissing the charges against Sims due to what he called “stunningly sloppy police work” by two sheriff’s detectives. The judge decided to continue with the case, but said mishandled evidence and inaccurate testimony may jeopardize the trial and led to an acquittal. In a ruling, the judge said it wasn’t clear whether Detective Ralph Losasso was “grossly negligent or engaged in intentional deception and fabrication to the Court.” Losasso’s supervisor, Sergeant Robert Jaworski, was also criticized as he witnessed the interview with Sims and backed Losasso’s account.
“Thank you, detectives, for breaking the rest of what was left of my heart,” said Garretson.
She said she had spoken with both investigators in the past and was confident they would help bring Sims to justice.
“From talking to them, I would think things would have been just fine,” said Garretson. “So thank you, detectives, for letting me down. Thanks for letting my daughter’s memory down.”
A sheriff’s office spokesperson said he still can’t comment because of a gag order in the Sims case. There is no evidence that either investigator has been reprimanded. TARGET 13 is waiting for an internal affairs investigation to be completed by the sheriff’s office.
For the first time since this sad case started, Hainif Sims is speaking exclusively to TARGET 13 in a jailhouse interview. Thursday night at 10 p.m., Sims gives his story of what happened to Genesis and explains why he decided to plead guilty.
