Defendant Claims Father Violently Beat Murdered Boy Before He Died

Added: 2026-05-14

[00:00:00]So, um, as of the 10th, Josie, were you still trying to leave Derek?

[00:00:07]>> I was.

[00:00:08]>> And did you talk to Derek at all about um whether or not you could fix your relationship?

[00:00:15]>> I told him several times that it was over.

[00:00:18]>> Was Derek still sleeping out in the uh the living room that entire time when he's trying to fix the relationship?

[00:00:25]>> Yes. Did Derek take no for an answer about not being able to fix the relationship?

[00:00:30]>> No.

[00:00:32]>> So, um, was it fairly common for Derek to accuse you of cheating on him in this time frame?

[00:00:37]>> Yes.

[00:00:39]>> Was it fairly common for Derek to do things like text you when you're in the bathroom to ask who you're talking to?

[00:00:47]>> Yes.

[00:00:48]>> And did that happen um at points in in your relationship with him?

[00:00:53]>> Yes. He would also um if I was showering or going to the bathroom and I locked the door, he would break in. I wasn't allowed to shower by myself. He would always be in there.

[00:01:03]>> I'm showing you what's been previously marked as 215 minutes.

[00:01:08]>> Joel, uh um is that representative of text messages that Derek would or Facebook messages that Derek would send you while you were using the restroom?

[00:01:19]>> Yes.

[00:01:20]Um, and do you know what he's talking about when or is is he confronting you about talking to somebody in the bathroom?

[00:01:28]>> Yes.

[00:01:29]>> Um, what does he or how did you take it to mean that um Derek when Derek asked you if you were saying goodbye to your turds?

[00:01:37]>> Um, he was accusing me of talking to someone. He was just he didn't like that the door was shut.

[00:01:49]Were you talking to Raphael?

[00:01:53]>> Uh, no. I mean, I was talking to him at the time, but it it wasn't that's all it was. I never ever met with a guy. I never nothing in our whole relationship. I was just talking.

[00:02:06]>> How did you get introduced to Raphael?

[00:02:09]at the birthday party. His daughter Liliana was there and um she she introduced the two of you.

[00:02:25]>> Yeah.

[00:02:26]>> Um was Raph actually at the birthday party or No, >> he was not there.

[00:02:31]>> So, um Josie, did you think that you were doing anything wrong setting up a date with Raphael?

[00:02:39]Um, no.

[00:02:42]Is >> that because you've repeatedly told Derek that you're broken up and you're single?

[00:02:47]Yes. And I was trying to meet this person and see if I could find a way out.

[00:02:59]So, the day of the 10th, the day before Alex died, do you recall whether or not Dererick was arguing with you over Facebook Messenger?

[00:03:09]>> What day? I'm sorry.

[00:03:10]>> The day before Alex died?

[00:03:13]>> Yes, he was arguing. We were arguing over Facebook.

[00:03:16]>> Was he still trying to fix the relationship with you on that day?

[00:03:20]>> Yes.

[00:03:22]>> Um, did you tell him that you didn't want to be in a relationship with him?

[00:03:25]>> Yes.

[00:03:27]So, Josie, I want to talk a little bit about where Alex was um when we when you got back from McDonald's. Where was Alex?

[00:03:38]>> On the couch.

[00:03:41]>> The couch in your bedroom?

[00:03:42]>> Yes.

[00:03:44]>> What was he doing in that time frame?

[00:03:47]>> Um he had he slept for a while before Dererick got home. Was Dererick supposed to come back to the house on that day?

[00:03:58]>> No.

[00:03:59]>> Did you in fact tell him at some point that you really should be following the no contact?

[00:04:04]>> Yes.

[00:04:05]>> Why'd you say that to him?

[00:04:08]>> Because um that's what I thought was right and I was scared of him.

[00:04:15]>> So when Derek got home from work, did you notice any interactions between him and Alex?

[00:04:24]Yes.

[00:04:26]>> Tell us what you noticed.

[00:04:28]>> He came home and went right into Alex.

[00:04:33]Um, and they were he was talking to Alex and um then when Alex had thrown up and I was in there, he had grabbed me a bag and a bucket when Alex puked.

[00:04:54]>> Did he notice anything else about Alex that changed Eric's demeanor?

[00:04:59]>> Um, yes. When I When I had went upstairs to check on Jaylen, I had thought I heard something downstairs. I didn't know for sure, but then after a few minutes, I went down to check and I heard pounding and screaming in the bathroom.

[00:05:21]And um I went to the bathroom door and I asked, "What the [ __ ] are you doing?"

[00:05:33]And he said cleaning up Alex's [ __ ] >> What did you hear inside of the bathroom?

[00:05:41]>> I heard Alex crying.

[00:05:46]I heard um Eric saying, "You're too old to be [ __ ] yourself."

[00:05:54]And I heard what sounded like banging on the walls and it sounded like he was throwing Alex around.

[00:06:06]>> Were you able to see what was happening in the bathroom?

[00:06:08]>> No.

[00:06:09]>> Why not?

[00:06:10]>> The door was shut >> and locked. I tried to open it.

[00:06:14]>> Okay.

[00:06:15]Um, what was your impression from what you were able to hear um, from outside of the bathroom as to what was happening inside of the bathroom?

[00:06:25]>> That he was beating Alex.

[00:06:28]>> I'm asked to publish what's been previously received as exhibit 216.

[00:06:41]Josiah, do you recognize that underwear in the bathtub?

[00:06:45]>> Yes.

[00:06:46]>> Whose underwear is that?

[00:06:48]>> Um, they're Alex's cuz blue is his favorite color.

[00:06:53]>> And you've we've heard previously that red was his favorite color. Was that not your impression?

[00:06:58]>> That's not true. I was with Alex every day and blue was his favorite color.

[00:07:04]So, what what do we notice about the underwear there?

[00:07:08]>> Um, looks like he had an accident.

[00:07:13]Um, >> Josie, when you cleaned up children after an accident like that where would where it's uh poop, what would you do with the underwear?

[00:07:23]>> Throw them away. I didn't clean up poop >> the underwear.

[00:07:28]>> Would you launder or or put through the laundry uh underwear if it was just pee?

[00:07:33]If it was pee, yeah, I'd rinse them out and um wash them, but I did not clean out poopy underwear. I just tossed them.

[00:07:42]>> Did you put that uh pair of soiled underwear in the bathtub of the home?

[00:07:45]>> No.

[00:07:47]>> And I see up there that there appears to be a empty bottle or something of that nature. Is that correct?

[00:07:56]>> Yes.

[00:07:57]>> You have any idea what that was for?

[00:07:59]Um, instead of Derek putting him on the toilet, he would have Alex pee in a bottle.

[00:08:06]>> So, you would just empty that into the bathtub, >> I guess.

[00:08:11]>> Did you put that bottle there?

[00:08:13]>> No.

[00:08:23]>> What did Alex look like when they emerged from the bathroom?

[00:08:27]>> Um, his stomach was red. He had boogers coming out of his nose.

[00:08:36]He was crying.

[00:08:38]His face was red.

[00:08:40]And um his arms were red.

[00:08:45]>> How did Alex look to you?

[00:08:51]>> You look hurt.

[00:08:55]Is it your impression that he had boogers on his face because he had been crying?

[00:08:59]>> He was crying. Yeah.

[00:09:01]>> Did you hear him crying inside of the bathroom?

[00:09:03]>> I did.

[00:09:04]>> You see him crying afterwards?

[00:09:06]>> He was more like sniffling when he came out.

[00:09:13]>> Was Was Alex wearing pants or underwear at that time?

[00:09:17]No, he um Derek took him into the into my room and put a pull-up on him.

[00:09:26]>> What did you notice about Alex after Derek took you and took him into his room and put the pull-ups on him?

[00:09:33]Um, he put a pull-up on him and put him on the couch and um, Alex started to calm down and I put a movie on for him and asked if he was okay and he said yes, but a lot of times he said that.

[00:09:55]Did you have any reason to believe, Josie, that whatever Derek did to Alex in the bathroom that evening was life-threatening?

[00:10:04]>> No.

[00:10:05]>> Was this a normal event with Derek and the kids?

[00:10:10]>> Yes. And when Derek came out, I asked he did to him and he said nothing.