Trial date set in Grand Prairie boy’s death on what would have been his 10th birthday

The stepfather of a 6-year-old Grand Prairie boy who died in February 2020 is set to go to trial on March 28 — which would have been Jojo King’s 10th birthday.

Brandon Hale is charged with injury to a child in the death of Joseph King III, known to most as Jojo. Hale was indicted in June 2021 and his trial is scheduled in the 432nd District Court in Tarrant County under Judge Ruben Gonzalez.

Hale, who had previously been convicted of abusing Jojo in March 2019, told authorities that he found the 6-year-old inside his toy chest, according to Jojo’s autopsy report. According to Jojo’s biological father, Joseph King, Hale hypothesized that Jojo had fallen into the chest, which shut on top of him and caused him to suffocate.

King has doubted Hale’s version of events. In February 2020, King received a call that his son was in a Dallas hospital ICU. King, who lives in metro Atlanta and is a homicide detective, rushed to Texas to see his son. Jojo was in the hospital for four days before he died.

Hale’s attorney said he did not have any comment on the case. In January 2021 when Hale was charged, a spokeswoman with the Tarrant County Criminal District Attorney’s Office said the office couldn’t answer why Hale was charged with bodily injury to a child as opposed to murder because the office doesn’t comment on pending cases.

King said he believes Jojo died of drowning. An autopsy report concluded that Jojo died from hypoxic encephalopathy — a form of brain damage caused by loss of oxygen or drowning. The medical examiner notes 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.”

On Feb. 8, the district attorney’s office called King to let him know a trial date had been set.

“I thought that was very ironic and also was sort of a powerful message that we are possibly starting this on his birthday,” King said. “I’m excited we finally have a trial date. This has been a very stressful time for me and my family. The one thing we have wanted is our day in court so we can have justice for Joseph.”

King also hopes to draw attention to how the justice system can better protect victims of domestic abuse. When Hale was charged and pleaded guilty to abusing Jojo in the 2019 case, King tried to get his son away from Hale.

King said he went back and forth with Child Protective Services and courts in Tarrant County, but found roadblocks in the justice system: The courts would not issue a protective order against Hale, CPS did not remove Jojo from Hale’s home and Hale’s probation terms from the first case of abuse did not ban Hale from being with Jojo unsupervised.

Mostly, King hopes the trial leads to justice for his son.

“We’re still in shock about he’s not here no more.,” King said. “We can’t pick up the phone to call him, can’t FaceTime him, can’t see him during the holidays.”

Jojo loved sports and was just starting to play baseball for the first time when he died. He loved superheroes and was known for his kindness at Florence Hill Elementary School. On Feb. 27, 2020, Jojo was taken off life support after doctors said the swelling in his brain was irreversible.

Jojo’s organs were donated, resulting in a successful transplant surgery for Adriana Nixon, a Fort Worth girl who had a 1-in-a-million form of stage four cancer. In January 2020, Adriana’s family learned she needed a liver transplant to have a chance at beating hepatocellular carcinoma, or HCC. After the transplant, Adriana’s family said she had an improved quality of life. Sadly, Adriana died in February 2022.