00:00:01
JoJo was healthy, energetic, smart, athletic. So, walking into that room and seeing him hooked up to life
00:00:14
support, I'm in shock like, "What happened?" But, when I'm listening to the story,
00:00:23
I'm shaking my head because it's not making sense. I'm not going to lie to you. This is
00:00:30
very suspicious. I'm just like, "Does my son have to die for y'all to do something to help me?"
00:00:39
Does my son have to die for y'all to do something to help me? >> The story I have for you today is going
00:00:46
to be hard to hear. But, when people don't listen to the tough stuff, that is what lets a system that doesn't protect
00:00:54
kids perpetuate. So, I beg you to hear today's story about a first-grader found unresponsive in his home in Grand
00:01:03
Prairie, Texas. The explanation that his stepfather gives is that he got trapped inside a
00:01:08
toy chest and couldn't breathe. But, when that theory is put to the test, it doesn't add up.
00:01:15
Yet, no one has been held responsible for this young boy's death. So, his father is making sure that no
00:01:23
one forgets his son's name. This is the story of Joseph JoJo King the third. Joseph King Jr.'s world collapsed a few
00:01:40
weeks before the rest of us were rocked by lockdowns and a global pandemic. It was February 23rd, 2020 when his
00:01:48
phone rang just before midnight. No good call comes at that hour. So, he was bracing himself when he answered. But,
00:01:56
there was nothing that could have prepared him for what was said. His 6-year-old son, Joseph King III, his
00:02:03
Jojo, was unconscious and at the hospital. Now, there wasn't much more information for him at that time. This
00:02:10
is all pretty recent, but he, dad, lives in Georgia and Jojo lives with his mom and stepfather in Texas. So, he needs to
00:02:17
get on the first flight out to be with his son. Joseph is in knots as he makes the trip and he still doesn't know much.
00:02:24
I mean, he had just FaceTimed with his son the day before. He was perfectly healthy and happy, pumped about starting
00:02:30
baseball. Like, how could this possibly be happening? How could he be in the hospital now? Now, when he finally
00:02:36
arrives at Children's Medical Center in Dallas that next morning, it is even worse than he imagined.
00:02:43
Jojo is not just unconscious, he is on life support. Doctors say that he suffered a brain injury from lack of
00:02:50
oxygen, likely from being stuck in a toy chest where his stepdad found him. >> like a toy box thing? Like he climbed in
00:02:58
and accidentally got stuck? >> That is what his stepdad is saying. Brandon Hale, the stepdad, says that he
00:03:04
was home with Jojo when it happened. Jojo's mom, Jessica, basically left for a baby shower at around 2:30 p.m. and
00:03:10
then at some point that afternoon, Brandon took this short nap, but he was woken up not too long after, just before
00:03:16
5:00 because he got a text from his wife reminding him to give Jojo his medication.
00:03:22
So, he said he searched the townhouse and he couldn't find Jojo anywhere. So, he even texts Jessica back like 5
00:03:28
minutes later asking if Jojo was with her. >> Which doesn't make sense cuz she's not
00:03:32
going to text you about giving him medicine if she has him. >> don't know what he was thinking, but no,
00:03:37
he is obviously not with mom. So then, Brandon went downstairs to check the front door, make sure that Jojo didn't
00:03:43
leave while he was sleeping, but he saw that it was still locked. So, he goes back upstairs and for some unknown
00:03:50
reason, he decided to check in the toy chest in Jojo's bedroom. And there he was, not breathing. Now,
00:03:59
Jojo's dad, Joseph, is standing there beside his son's hospital bed listening to Brandon's explanation.
00:04:07
And to him, something just doesn't sound right. And he's not just thinking that as a dad, he's thinking that as a
00:04:16
detective. Because Joseph just so happens to be a homicide homicide detective in Atlanta. And hearing that
00:04:22
his son was home alone with Brandon when something went down immediately sets off
00:04:27
alarm bells. Because he knows something you don't. Let me rewind almost a year back to
00:04:35
March of 2019. One day, Jojo showed up to school and he couldn't sit down. Teachers noticed that he had a bit of a
00:04:43
limp, as well. So, they like pull him aside. And what becomes visible up close is that there are multiple loop-shaped
00:04:51
bruises across the backs of both of his thighs. When they ask him about it, Jojo
00:04:56
tells them that his dad, meaning his stepfather, Brandon, beat him with a belt. So, police came, they responded, and the
00:05:04
Texas Department of Family Protective Services, which is DFPS, they opened an investigation. Brandon admits that he
00:05:12
used a belt, and it sounds like he and Jessica both describe using some forms of corporal punishment as discipline.
00:05:19
>> But DFPS ends up ruling reason to believe for physical abuse. That's officially documented then.
00:05:26
>> Oh, yeah. Reason to believe means that DFPS determined abuse did occur. And so,
00:05:31
Brandon gets indicted for injury to a child. But here is where it gets complicated.
00:05:38
Joseph, Jojo's biological father living in Georgia, isn't notified about any of this right away. Even though he had been
00:05:46
active in his son's life, he saw him over summers and during holidays, talked to him nearly every day.
00:05:52
But, as soon as he does find out, he told our team that he started trying to get custody. I mean, he goes right to
00:05:58
DFPS, the very people who say that they have reason to believe that this young boy is being abused in his home.
00:06:05
But, he says that they told him they don't remove children in situations like this.
00:06:11
>> In situations like this >> With abuse? That's what they said. So, he tried going through family court. He
00:06:19
tried going to detectives at Grand Prairie PD, but they point him right back to DFPS. So, as kind of a last
00:06:26
resort, a way to protect his son from far away, he applied for a protective order on behalf of Jojo. But, according
00:06:35
to him, a judge wouldn't sign it because Jojo lived in the same home as the person that he was asking for him to be
00:06:41
protected from, aka Brandon. >> Domestic abuse happens in the home all the time. Like, that's what domestic
00:06:47
means. >> It doesn't even make sense. It isn't even logical. >> I know. >> So, basically, if Joseph wanted to get
00:06:54
Jojo out of that home, the really only option that they left him with is to kidnap Jojo, and they'd have to go on
00:07:01
the run cuz he'd be a fugitive as the non-custodial parent. >> is not much of an option, is it? And
00:07:07
Britt, this is the part that stays with him. Joseph said that he remembers literally
00:07:16
asking officials, "Does my son have to die for someone to help us?" That question now echoes in the ICU,
00:07:25
too. Because the man who admitted to striking his son with a belt is the same man who
00:07:32
was home alone with him when he stopped breathing. And he's able to stand there in that
00:07:38
hospital on that day in February 2020, because even though DFPS said that they had reason to believe Brandon abused
00:07:47
Jojo in 2019, they closed the case documenting that the risk level was low. He got 4 years
00:07:56
deferred adjudication probation. Translation, no formal conviction as long as he complies with his probation.
00:08:04
That is zero jail time. So, the fact that Brandon was home alone with Jojo, back living in the house with him at the
00:08:12
time that this happened, apparently all of that is by the books as far as the court and DFPS were concerned.
00:08:20
Doctors explained that Jojo's brain had suffered severe swelling from prolonged lack of oxygen. They tell Joseph the
00:08:28
next 48 to 72 hours are going to determine everything for Jojo. But all he can do now is wait.
00:08:35
But as he waits, he can't help replaying his question. Does my son have to die for someone to help us? And he's also
00:08:43
replaying the story he heard from Brandon. And the more times it loops in his brain, and the more information he
00:08:51
starts collecting from doctors and from police, the less Brandon's story makes sense to Joseph the dad and Joseph the
00:09:01
detective. Some cases fade from headlines. Some never made it there to begin with. I'm
00:09:13
Ashley Flowers and on my podcast, The Deck, I tell you the stories of cold cases featured on playing cards
00:09:20
distributed in prisons designed to spark new leads and bring long overdue justice. Because these stories deserve
00:09:27
to be heard and the loved ones of these victims still deserve answers. Are you ready to be dealt in? Listen to The Deck
00:09:34
now wherever you get your podcasts. >> From the very start, the timeline Brandon gave seems shaky to Joseph.
00:09:43
Initially, the story that Brandon told made it seem like he just took this quick little cat nap, like 30 minutes or
00:09:49
so. That doesn't make sense to Joseph. The doctor told him Jojo was like that because of prolonged lack of oxygen.
00:09:56
>> Right. Now, conveniently, Brandon's story morphs over time. That 30-minute nap changes to a I don't know how long
00:10:03
it was, to eventually saying that he was sleeping nearly the entire afternoon while he was supposed to be supervising
00:10:09
Jojo. And then, there is this whole weird thing with CPR. At first, Brandon's story was that he
00:10:16
pulled Jojo from the chest, performed CPR, and called 911. But Joseph finds out that when Brandon
00:10:24
called 911 at 4:58 p.m., the dispatcher had to tell him to put Jojo on the floor
00:10:30
and begin compressions. But when she is spoken to, she says from what she could tell over the phone or whatever, it
00:10:37
didn't seem like he was actually doing it. And when EMS arrived by 5:11, they documented that he is not doing CPR
00:10:45
compressions. First responders find Jojo not breathing, without a pulse, while Brandon is just screaming "God, no!" and
00:10:53
crying, rocking, hitting the wall. >> Which could just be panic, though. >> Sure.
00:10:59
But how about this? As far as we know, nowhere in Brandon's story does he offer up an explanation
00:11:08
for why Jojo is wet. And I'm not just talking like sweaty from being stuck inside a constricted
00:11:15
space for a long time. Wet from his nose all the way down to his hips. And police also document a wet
00:11:24
towel in the bathroom, and the bed is wet. >> I mean, how wet are we talking here?
00:11:31
>> I don't know exactly because as of this recording we haven't gotten any photos
00:11:35
or body cam footage from the Grand Prairie Police Department in response to our FOIA, but I will say at least some
00:11:43
of the wetness, at least the some of the wetness on JoJo himself is urine because
00:11:48
responding officers say that he smells of urine, which makes sense to me. I mean, especially for a little kid
00:11:54
trapped in any way or dying. Like your body is panicking or as you like lose consciousness you sometimes can lose
00:12:00
control of bodily functions. But the reports don't fully explain why that other stuff would be wet. But in
00:12:06
Brandon's version of events, none of this makes sense anyway because even if JoJo lost control of his bladder and all
00:12:13
of the wetness on him was urine, that would probably happen when he's in the chest, right?
00:12:19
>> Yeah. >> Like there's nothing mentioned in Brandon's statement like, oh, JoJo had
00:12:23
just taken a bath earlier. It wasn't like, oh, I knocked over water while trying to save him. It was just he was
00:12:28
in the toy chest. Like full stop. And he doesn't even appear like he tries to address the wetness stuff.
00:12:33
>> So, putting the wetness aside for a sec, uh say Brandon really is napping and
00:12:39
JoJo is getting himself and other things wet for like whatever reason. I've had a
00:12:44
first grader, I have a second grader. There are wildness that happens. The thing I'm having a hard time
00:12:51
understanding is that if he accidentally goes in the toy chest, why can't he get
00:12:54
himself out? Like he's six. Like he's not like a baby or even a little toddler. >> So, it does seem with this specific toy
00:13:02
chest that if it shuts that it would automatically lock. So, like he wouldn't have been able to open it back up on his
00:13:08
own from the inside. You can only do that from the outside. But to your point, like I'm still trying to figure out why
00:13:16
he couldn't have gotten help even if that I mean, we know that's like that's how it works, but even if that's what
00:13:22
happened because Joseph he's like like big athletic kid. You would think that he would at least
00:13:27
be able to bang, yell, scream, make some noise. And this isn't a huge townhome or anything.
00:13:34
I mean, like I I know Brandon's sleeping. I don't know how hard of a sleeper he is. And he's,
00:13:39
you know, out for maybe some or all of the afternoon. But another thought that crossed Joseph's mind is that maybe JoJo
00:13:48
had been incapacitated in some way. Now, the suggestion that Joseph said, his ex
00:13:54
Jessica kind of threw out there, was that maybe JoJo had jumped from the bed, hit the chest, the
00:14:01
top like slammed shut, and then he got knocked out or something somehow. >> Already feels kind of improbable.
00:14:09
>> Yeah, and it doesn't line up with his known injuries. According to Joseph's doctor, they tell him there doesn't seem
00:14:15
to be any significant head injuries that would explain JoJo's like falling unconscious. And there was no
00:14:21
obstruction blocking his airway, either, as if he had choked on a small toy or something while he was in there that
00:14:26
like kept him from crying out for help. So >> I don't know what's worse, thinking of
00:14:31
him like trapped in there unconscious, or trapped in there like crying to get out and no
00:14:37
one's helping him. >> The same question echoes, right? Does my son have to die for someone to help us?
00:14:44
This is not really a question that you want to get an answer to while your son is on life support.
00:14:51
But days pass, the swelling in JoJo's brain doesn't go down, and he never regains consciousness.
00:14:59
On February 27th, 2020, doctors pronounced JoJo dead. Joseph made the decision to donate his
00:15:06
son's organs when he died, because it is the only thing he can do that makes him
00:15:10
feel like some ounce of good could come out of something so horrific. And then after that,
00:15:17
he went to work for his son. Because the autopsy that was performed came back as manner of death
00:15:25
undetermined. With the cause of death listed as global hypoxic encephalopathy. And they say it was due to smothering
00:15:34
with absence of oxygen following prolonged entrapment in a sealed toy chest. >> That sounds like tragic accident
00:15:42
territory maybe. >> In the wrong hands, I think it would be. But Joseph isn't going to just walk away
00:15:49
because of an undetermined ruling. He claims that he had to push for Grand Prairie PD to have a different detective
00:15:55
put fresh eyes on his son's case. And thank God he did. And thank God they listened. Because as part of this fresh
00:16:05
look, they actually decide to test the ME's ruling. That whole part about lack of
00:16:11
oxygen because he was in a sealed toy chest. Because was it even sealed? >> Wait, I I thought they already checked
00:16:20
that. And like they know it locks if it shuts like automatically. >> They know that it automatically locks
00:16:27
and if it shuts. But by the time of JoJo's autopsy, it doesn't seem like anyone had actually tested whether or
00:16:35
not air could flow through when it was shut so and locked. >> locked versus like airtight.
00:16:41
>> And guess what? They test this thing by putting a light inside. And light shines
00:16:47
through the cracks. Which means if light can get through the cracks, >> that means air has got to be able to
00:16:52
pass through too. >> Precisely. So it was not sealed like the autopsy said. Then while investigators
00:17:00
are at it, they also tried to recreate the scene. They use a mannequin similar in size to JoJo. And this thing barely
00:17:08
fits inside the chest at all because the chest wasn't empty when Brandon says he
00:17:12
went in there. There were toys inside of it. Specifically, there was this large Batman doll that took up a significant
00:17:19
amount of space. So, with all of this new info, the medical examiner actually goes back to amend the report. In
00:17:29
non-medical jargon, it now says that Jojo died from lack of oxygen, but they just can't say how.
00:17:35
>> Undetermined. >> Still undetermined. But, there is one more addition to this report that makes
00:17:44
Joseph stop cold in his tracks and just have this like almost like I freaking knew it moment,
00:17:51
right? Like this aha moment. And here, Brett, I'm actually just going to have you read it because
00:17:56
you'll know exactly what he was feeling. >> Responding officers reported the decedent was wet when they arrived on
00:18:02
the scene and there was concern for possible homicidal drowning. >> Now, it's not a ruling, just a concern for
00:18:13
homicidal drowning. But, it's concern enough for investigators to reassess everything, to go back to the drawing
00:18:21
board, and to try and figure out if Jojo didn't die from being trapped in a toy chest, then what really killed him?
00:18:29
Joseph couldn't be side by side with investigators as they work to find the answers. They had to keep him at an
00:18:36
arm's length to protect their investigation. So, he would have to wait until 2023
00:18:42
to hear any other possible theory about what could have happened to his son. Now, this time, Joseph is back in Texas,
00:18:49
not at a hospital, but in a courthouse in Tarrant County. That is where Brandon is going before a judge. And he's not
00:18:57
going before a judge for murder charges. This isn't a trial. This is a hearing to
00:19:01
determine whether he violated his probation. >> Oh, what? >> He was still on probation for the 2019
00:19:09
belt incident when Jojo died in 2020. >> Oh. >> So, basically prosecutors believe
00:19:14
>> this happened >> of 2020 that that violated the probation from that like that incident. But, this
00:19:20
is 2023. It took them >> 3 years to get to court on this? >> I don't know why it took so long.
00:19:27
Detectives and the DA's office didn't talk to us for this episode. But, remember, I mean, it did take a
00:19:33
different detective digging into this case to even get some of these answers. So, I assume that took some time to get
00:19:39
sorted. Then, Joseph thinks maybe because the manner of death was undetermined. I don't know, like at some
00:19:45
point, like they probably just figured that a probation violation would be much easier to get this guy on. Like, okay,
00:19:52
like let's all try to put him away for some time for something. >> Yeah. >> But, the easy thing is not always the
00:19:58
right thing. And being in law enforcement himself, Joseph says that he is certainly surprised that they didn't
00:20:05
go for more by the time 2023 rolls around. Because once he hears what it is that they presented under oath, he is
00:20:14
even more sure that his son did not die in the way that Brandon claimed. At this hearing, the state doesn't have
00:20:26
to prove anything beyond a reasonable doubt. They just have to convince the judge that Brandon committed a new
00:20:32
offense while on probation. That's it. And to do that, they walk through the evidence again. Some of the
00:20:39
same things that Joseph heard before. Information regarding questionable timeline, the possibility that
00:20:45
life-saving measures weren't attempted despite instructions from 911 to do so, and Brandon's own statement that he did.
00:20:53
Now, Brandon ends up testifying that he did give breaths and compressions with one hand. But, then later, he reportedly
00:21:00
stated that he felt Jojo was already dead and didn't really see the point. So, again, statements don't quite line
00:21:07
up. But then comes the new stuff. And it all mainly focuses on the weirdest and most glaringly strange part of this
00:21:17
case. The fact that Jojo and some parts of this scene were wet. Now, the initial
00:21:23
responding deputy takes the stand and we finally get details about what he witnessed. In the bathroom, he saw that
00:21:30
the toys in the bathtub were wet. And there is a towel at the base of the toilet that is wet, too. Now, based on
00:21:37
the floor plan of this place, it looks like the toilet is right up next to the tub. And while there's no way to tell
00:21:42
how the things in the bath got wet, what he does notice is that the toilet bowl itself, like the water in it, it appears
00:21:50
like it's half full. As if an object had been placed into it. That's the language that he uses.
00:21:58
>> An object like the toys? >> I don't know if they were ever in the toilet, but I think it would have taken
00:22:05
something larger to displace half the water in the toilet. And I don't think it takes Sherlock to see what he's
00:22:12
trying to suggest here based on how he describes Jojo. Now, remember, he says that Jojo is wet from the nose down to
00:22:20
his hips. Now, the wetness isn't around his whole body. Apparently, it is just this strip down the front of him.
00:22:28
>> Is he saying that Jojo was somehow like dunked in the toilet or >> No. He is just saying what he saw. The
00:22:37
toilet water is displaced and he is wet down the front of him. Now, Brandon's wife, Jojo's mom, Jessica,
00:22:45
testifies that if the towel and the tub toys were like wet, it might have been from a bath the night before.
00:22:53
But Joseph usually bathed between 6:00 and 8:00 p.m. This was nearly 24 hours later.
00:22:59
>> Okay, we haven't really talked about Jessica that much. Where does she stand in all of this? Like is she siding with
00:23:05
Brandon? >> Well, in a DFPS document that we have, it states that Jessica and Brandon got
00:23:10
an attorney and refused to cooperate with DFPS or law enforcement following Jojo's death, or at least like at the
00:23:17
time that this document was prepared. And honestly, from what we can tell, yeah, she seems to still be with Brandon
00:23:23
and supporting him. Her belief appears to be that this was all a very terrible, tragic accident. And Jessica faces no
00:23:31
charges related to her son or his death. Now, we tried to reach out to her for this episode, but she declined to
00:23:36
participate. In fact, she made it clear that she didn't want this story to be told at all.
00:23:41
>> Interesting. So, say the bath and the toys and the towel were all still wet from the night before when he
00:23:49
took his bath and not something that happened in the bathroom on the 23rd. Is it possible that the wet strip down the
00:23:56
front of his body was from Jojo peeing himself? Like if he was kind of upside down in the chest or something,
00:24:03
it might have like like run up his body like while he was upside down. >> So, I see what you're saying, but I can
00:24:09
actually tell you for sure that's not what happened. I mean, A, then we would be going back to saying that the toy
00:24:15
chest like is sealed and suffocated him, which we now know that's not even possible. But B, at the hearing, we get
00:24:23
this strange detail that comes out. There was no documented moisture or smell of urine inside the actual toy
00:24:32
chest. And when they later tested the Batman stuffed toy that was in there, it did not show residual traces of urine,
00:24:39
either. >> Ashley, was he ever in the toy chest at all? >> This is the question, Brett. I don't see
00:24:46
any proof of that. I mean, we have urine present. It sounds like we also have some water present, but not in the toy
00:24:54
chest. >> is in the chest, which is the crux of Brandon's whole story. >> Yeah. >> And let me tell you one more thing that
00:25:01
for me, like this thing is what really painted a picture. When the responding deputy testified on
00:25:08
the witness stand about the bed, he said that when he pulled the covers back, he
00:25:14
found that it was wet in the middle about where Jojo's bottom would have been if he was laying on the bed.
00:25:22
>> Just that area. >> Yes, from what I can tell, that's what he's saying. Now, the thing I don't know
00:25:28
for sure is if that wetness was water or urine. And if that wetness happened before or after the toilet bowl losing
00:25:38
water. >> Right. >> Like did Jojo have an accident and then whatever happened after that was
00:25:46
prompted by that accident. >> Or did something happen in the bathroom and then he was put or went to bed?
00:25:54
>> it was the front of him is what is wet. As if his In my mind, as if his face was
00:25:59
pushed into the bowl of water and then the water ran down the front of him when he was pulled out.
00:26:05
>> The thing I don't get though is if he had drowned, wouldn't that be in the ME's report? Like that's pretty
00:26:14
like cut and dry. I know there was like a what {quote} {unquote} concern for homicidal drowning, but
00:26:22
drowning is cut and dry. Like was there water in his >> lungs or was there not? >> and dry when someone immediately dies
00:26:28
from drowning. This one is complicated because of the fact that Jojo didn't die right away, right?
00:26:33
>> in the hospital for so long. >> During this hearing, the medical examiner testifies that there was water
00:26:40
present in Joseph's airways. But that doesn't necessarily mean drowning because Joseph had been on a ventilator
00:26:47
for several days before he died and the ME testified that fluid in the airways can be consistent with prolonged
00:26:54
ventilator use. So, according to this ME, there is just no way to narrow down the list by
00:27:01
testing for drowning in cases like this. Which means the autopsy can say asphyxia, meaning he couldn't get
00:27:08
oxygen. It can say that there is a concern for something, but it can't say how the oxygen deprivation happened.
00:27:16
Now, the state's argument is that if the toy chest theory doesn't work and drowning can't be ruled out
00:27:24
and there is no trauma, then the only explanation left is that someone caused the asphyxiation and the only someone in
00:27:33
that house was Brandon. But, the defense argues that it was an accident inside the toy chest.
00:27:41
>> How are we still talking about this toy chest? Like, it feels irrelevant at this
00:27:45
point. >> because the ruling is undetermined. And maybe, maybe because dying by being locked in a toy chest
00:27:53
didn't just come out of thin air for this case. I mean, I did a quick Google search and
00:27:58
there are stories of children, mostly younger than Jojo, getting stuck in toy chests. And I think it's a lot of these
00:28:04
like old chests that are often passed down like family heirlooms and they obviously don't pass like modern safety
00:28:10
checks or anything like that. >> have a chest like this in my room that has like blankets in it, but like it
00:28:15
shuts, it locks. You If you were inside, you couldn't get out. I can see it, but
00:28:18
like >> That's not what Jojo >> was in. >> Well, that's what I'm saying. It's important to note that at this hearing,
00:28:22
they established that the cedar chest in Jojo's room was not even originally designed as a toy chest. It's kind of
00:28:28
like what you're saying you have. It was like this vintage Lane cedar hope chest
00:28:32
thing manufactured decades ago, like 1956. And to be fair, like over the years certain Lane cedar chests with
00:28:40
like automatically locking lids had been subject to recalls. Children had gotten
00:28:44
trapped inside them. Sadly, some had even suffocated. So, historically, this is not unheard of.
00:28:52
And at first glance, sure, like if similar chests had trapped children before, it makes the story feel
00:28:58
plausible. But there is the nuance that like comes out in court. Testimony clarified that this specific chest, the
00:29:05
one that they're saying Jojo might have gotten trapped in, it was not confirmed to be part of any recall. So, it's not
00:29:11
like investigators found a recall sticker or a defect notice like tied to this exact chest. And remember, even if
00:29:18
Jojo had been locked inside the chest, >> just I was just going to bring up like
00:29:21
the chest is not air is not airtight. Like he >> What? >> air passes through. >> So, exactly, it is irrelevant to me if
00:29:28
other kids died in similar chests. A kid could not die in this one chest. There was no gasket or seal that would make it
00:29:38
airtight. And that is where the state lands. They're not arguing that toy chest accidents have never happened.
00:29:45
>> Right. >> They're arguing that this specific one does not explain the scene that they're
00:29:49
presented with. Because if the chest isn't airtight, if the mannequin barely fits in it, if there is moisture
00:29:55
elsewhere and not in the chest, then the explanation changes. After days of testimony,
00:30:03
after the timelines dissected, the CPR thing, the wetness, the toy chest testing, and amended autopsy are all
00:30:11
laid out in that courtroom, it's time for the judge to rule. And remember, this is not a murder
00:30:18
trial. >> I was just like having to like pull myself back to be like what is even the
00:30:22
verdict here? Cuz it's just a probation hearing. >> This is the judge, yeah, isn't being
00:30:27
asked to determine exactly how Jojo died. He is being asked one thing. Did Brandon Hale violate the terms of his
00:30:34
probation from the 2019 injury to a child case by committing a new offense in February
00:30:40
of 2020? That's it. And if he did, then his probation is revoked. In December of 2023,
00:30:50
the judge makes his decision, and he finds that Brandon did violate the terms of his probation. His deferred
00:30:57
adjudication from the 2019 belt incident is revoked, and he's formally found guilty in that original injury to a
00:31:06
child case. So, he gets sentenced to 10 years in prison. Not for murder, but for the 2019 abuse.
00:31:14
And that is the only conviction connected to JoJo's case. >> He had to die for someone to help him.
00:31:23
And then they didn't even hold anyone accountable for his actual death. >> Listen.
00:31:30
Our team reached out to both Brandon in prison and his attorney for comment. But as of this recording, we have not
00:31:39
gotten a response. And we also contacted the Tarrant County District Attorney's Office for clarity
00:31:45
about whether additional charges would ever be pursued. They did not give us an answer. But we had our legal team look
00:31:53
into this, and they confirmed that the DA could bring new charges against Brandon Hale anytime they see fit. It
00:32:02
wouldn't even necessarily require new evidence. DFPS did provide us with public records, but they didn't answer
00:32:08
our specific questions about why JoJo's original case went the way it did. I want to know why he was allowed back in
00:32:16
that home. How did a 6-year-old boy die from lack of oxygen inside his own home while he was alone with the man who
00:32:23
admitted to beating him with a belt? And how did this happen less than a year after the system had already
00:32:30
substantiated abuse? There's been a resounding word throughout this entire episode.
00:32:37
Undetermined. >> Mhm. >> Undetermined cause, undetermined manner, undetermined answers.
00:32:44
There is one thing that was never undetermined. Jojo mattered. He mattered to his dad,
00:32:52
his real-life superhero who he wanted to be like when he grew up. And he mattered
00:32:57
to the little girl who got to live more life and spend precious final moments with her family because of his organ
00:33:03
donation. And he mattered to the people who saw him every day at school, to the janitor
00:33:10
who came to visit him while he was in the hospital because he said that Jojo never just walked by him like the other
00:33:16
kids. He always stopped and gave him a hug. He made him feel special. That's who Jojo was.
00:33:24
For dad, Joseph, this was never just about a probation violation. It was about protection. Now, instead of
00:33:33
letting his grief swallow him into silence, it propels him forward. He tells Jojo's story publicly any chance
00:33:41
he can get, not because it's easy, but because it's necessary. He speaks to other law enforcement officers about
00:33:47
what went wrong, about what might have been done differently, how to keep this from happening to another child, another
00:33:54
family. He fights for accountability because he knows what it feels like to beg for help
00:34:02
and to not be heard. >> I got on FaceTime with my family and let all my family say goodbye to him in the
00:34:10
hospital room. And then when I hung up, I walked over to him and I leaned over and I whispered in his ear. I said,
00:34:17
"Don't worry. Daddy got you. He going to find out what happened." >> If you feel strongly about Jojo's case
00:34:26
after hearing the story, you can call the Tarrant County, Texas District Attorney's Office at 817-884-1400.
00:34:36
Tell them you want them to take another look at this case. Tell them that you want justice for
00:34:42
Joseph JoJo King the third. You can find all the source material for this episode on our website
00:34:50
crimejunkie.com. >> And you can follow us on Instagram at crimejunkiepodcast. >> We'll be back next week with a brand new
00:34:56
episode.