Texas Dad Beat Daughter to Death After She Smirked at Him

FORT WORTH, TX — A 35-year-old Fort Worth man has been charged with capital murder in the death of his 9-year-old daughter. 

According to reporting by Law & Crime, which cited an affidavit obtained by local NBC affiliate KXAS, Marquise Anderson was arrested Tuesday and charged with capital murder of a person under 10 years old. The charge came months after the Feb. 8 death of his daughter, Joanna Shoulder, which the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office later ruled a homicide. 

Fort Worth police responded to Anderson’s home at 3:15 a.m. on Feb. 8, the affidavit states. First responders found the girl on the floor. She was covered in bruises and taken to a hospital, where she died, according to KXAS reporting. 

A woman who was at the home told police that Anderson had disciplined Joanna with a belt the day before she died, according to the affidavit obtained by KXAS. Anderson woke the woman during the night and said Joanna had become ill while in the bathtub, police said. He told the woman he left the room to get her a glass of water, heard noises, and returned to find that she had vomited and hit her head after falling. The woman performed CPR until paramedics arrived, the affidavit states. 

Anderson told police that Joanna had wet the bed twice that night. After the second incident, he put her in the bathtub for three hours, according to the affidavit. He admitted spanking her and then beating her with a belt that had a metal buckle after she smirked at him, police said. 

Anderson told police that Joanna’s condition worsened after the beating. He said she became sleepy, thirsty, hot and began slurring her speech before collapsing and vomiting, the affidavit states. Anderson then called 911. He provided police with multiple explanations for the head injuries, according to KXAS. 

An autopsy found that Joanna suffered abundant hemorrhage of the soft tissues and multiple bruises on her back, thighs, lower extremities and flank, Law & Crime reported. She had multiple blunt force injuries to her head and neck and bleeding underneath her scalp and around her cervical and thoracic spinal canal. 

The Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the manner of death a homicide on June 16, according to the reporting. Anderson remains in custody at the Tarrant County Jail without bond. His next court date has not been set.