A 41-year-old Mississippi man has been sentenced to death row following a first-degree murder conviction for the fatal beating of his 2-year-old stepson.
As CrimeOnline previously reported, a Biloxi jury deliberated for two hours Friday before determining that Joseph David Heard should face the death penalty for the killing of Hayden Lee Bataille.
Court documents indicate that paramedics discovered Hayden unconscious after a 911 on December 16, 2021. A day later, he was pronounced dead.
The court heard that the motive behind the assault was Hayden’s delay in locating his juice box, which reportedly infuriated the defendant.
Heard repeatedly struck the child in the mouth and head, according to the child’s mother, Hailey Heard, who testified that her husband kept assaulting the victim despite his crying. He then lifted the boy with one hand while striking him with the other.
Joseph Heard denied the accusations while under oath and said the child’s injuries happened from playing rough. However, Hailey Heard said that the defendant would routinely beat Hayden.
In the months leading up to killing him, Heard would make the boy sit on his potty-training seat for hours, popped open blisters on his hand with a spatula, and bragged about beating the boy in text messages to his mother.
An emergency room physician testified at the trial and detailed Hayden’s severe injuries.
“It was one of the most horrific scenes I’ve witnessed as an ER doctor,” Dr. Leanne Lee testified, the Sun Herald reports. “I had never seen a kid that had sustained so much trauma.”
Harrison County District Attorney Crosby Parker reportedly said he had no choice but to seek the death penalty based on the “brutal and heinous” nature of the crime.
“We commend the Harrison County jury for agreeing with us.”
Hailey Heard pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of first-degree murder and agreed to testify against her husband. She was sentenced to life in prison.
“God have mercy on your soul,” the judge told Heard following sentencing.
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[Feature Photo: Hayden Lee Bataille/Handout]
