‘I knew something wasn’t right.’ Hearing to revoke probation after North Texas boy’s death

State prosecutors showed body-camera video Monday during a hearing to revoke probation for a Grand Prairie man accused of fatally injuring his 6-year-old stepson.

In February 2020, Joseph King, also known as Jojo, was rushed to a Dallas hospital after his stepdad, Brandon Hale, told police he found the boy not breathing inside his toy chest. Jojo King died after spending four days in the hospital ICU.

In June 2021, Hale was indicted on charge of a serious injury to a child. He has pleaded not guilty.

Hale was previously convicted of abusing Jojo about a year before his death. Judge Ruben Gonzalez is overseeing the hearing in Tarrant County’s 432nd District Court in which prosecutors are seeking to revoke Hale’s probation in the 2019 case.

After considering the evidence, the judge can find the allegations true or not true. If he rules that Hale committed a new offense and violated the terms of his probation, Gonzalez can decide either to let him continue on probation or sentence him to between two and 10 years in prison.

‘Something wasn’t right’

At Monday’s hearing, several first responders testified about their response to the 911 call that Hale made on Feb. 23, 2020. Hale called Grand Prairie police at about 5 p.m. and, while screaming and crying, said his stepson was not breathing. He told the 911 dispatcher that he had been taking a nap and when he woke up, he found his stepson in his toy chest, unconscious and not breathing.

Two police officers took the stand as prosecutors played their body-camera footage for the court. Officer Patrick Akins with the Grand Prairie Police Department was the first person to arrive at Hale’s home after he called police. In the bodycam video, Akins runs into the house and finds Hale screaming and crying in Jojo’s bedroom next to the child, who is lying on the floor and does not appear to be breathing.

Akins starts to give Jojo CPR and tries to ask Hale what happened, the video shows. Akins testified that Jojo’s body was still warm, and the boy was wet from his face down to about his crotch. He also noted there was a gurgling sound in Jojo’s throat as he started CPR. There was nothing in Jojo’s mouth or airway, and Akins said he did not see any external injuries.

Shortly after Akins arrived at the house, Grand Prairie Cpl. Henderson joined him and took over CPR. After a few minutes, paramedics rush into the room and start to take care of the 6-year-old, who is still unresponsive. The body-camera footage shows six paramedics doing CPR, and examining Jojo’s body and the bedroom. In the background, cartoons play on the TV.

Akins testified that after looking around the house and discovering that Hale had previously pleaded guilty to abusing Jojo in March 2019, he told Henderson they should treat the home as a crime scene.

“I knew something wasn’t right,” Akins said in court Monday.

Akins said Jojo’s bed was damp, like Jojo’s clothes were, and the boy smelled slightly of urine. He found it strange that the toy box where Jojo was supposedly found was not wet and did not have urine in it, and that the box was filled about halfway with toys. He also noticed the bathroom had wet towels and wet toys strewn across it. Hale told Akins that Jojo had a white froth coming from his mouth when he found him; Akins noted in his testimony that that could have been a sign of drowning.

Henderson testified next about her experience at Hale’s home. She also noticed Jojo’s gurgling and that his clothes were damp. Her bodycam footage shows her try to talk to Hale about what happened, but Hale continues to scream and cry on the floor.

While parents being upset in this situation is expected, Henderson testified, she thought after awhile that Hale’s reaction “started to appear exaggerated.”

She did note that it is standard procedure to treat a child’s death like a crime scene until it can be investigated thoroughly.

The toy chest

Two different detectives were assigned to Jojo’s case. Sgt. Greg Parker began investigating Jojo’s death while Jojo was still in the hospital. Parker testified Monday about his investigation, during which a medical examiner determined it was possible that Jojo had suffocated in the toy box. At the end of Parker’s investigation, he determined there was not enough evidence to issue an arrest warrant for anyone. He closed the case. During his testimony, Parker said his decision was based in part on the belief that the toy chest was air tight.

When the case was closed, Jojo’s biological father, Joseph King, contacted Grand Prairie police and asked for the case to be reopened. King also made a formal complaint against Parker; after an internal affairs investigation, Parker received a reprimand from Grand Prairie police.

The Star-Telegram spoke with King in 2021. King said he believed Hale was responsible for Jojo’s death and that Parker had not investigated the case thoroughly.

On July 30 2020, Detective Alan Frizzell took over the investigation. In Monday’s testimony, Frizzell walked through his investigation. He noted Jojo did not have injuries to his hands or fingers that would be consistent with Jojo trying to get out of the toy chest.

In August 2020, Frizzell and other detectives analyzed the toy box, which Frizzell noted was not sealed. Frizzell placed a flashlight inside the box and closed the lid, and light could be seen through gaps in the chest. Because of this, he determined it was not air tight because light could get out. The next month, using a mannequin that was slightly smaller than Jojo, they discovered Jojo would not have fit inside the chest.

“I do not believe he was ever in that box,” Frizzell testified.

The autopsy report was revised based on the new information. According to a second report, which is labeled “corrected,” Jojo had hypoxic encephalopathy — a form of brain damage caused by loss of oxygen or drowning. The medical examiner noted that Jojo was wet when EMS found him and “there was concern for possible homicidal drowning.” “The original circumstances were suspicious,” the report concluded. “And further investigative information only increases the concern that this was a homicidal event.”

In cross examination, Hale’s attorney criticized Frizzell’s analysis of the toy chest. He said Jojo might not have scratched against the toy chest to get out and might have simply pushed on it.

The attorney asked Frizzell since he did not believe Jojo suffocated inside the toy chest if he had a theory for how Jojo died.

“I cannot tell you how he was killed. I cannot,” Frizzell said. “But I do not believe he was in the box.”

The hearing will continue Tuesday.

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