Joseph Daniels Wiki - Joseph Daniels Biography
Joseph Daniels was found guilty of first-degree murder in perpetration of a felony crime, a conviction that carries an automatic life sentence in Tennessee. In this case, the connected felony was aggravated child abuse.
He was also charged with first-degree, premeditated murder but convicted of the lesser charge of second-degree murder on that count. He was also found guilty of aggravated child abuse, initiating a false report, and tampering with evidence.
The jury, chosen from Hamilton County, announced its verdict Saturday after an eight-day trial and nearly 10 hours of deliberation over two days.
Joseph Daniels Age
Joseph Daniels's age is unknown.
Joseph Daniels was accused of murdering his 5-year-old son
Daniels was accused of killing the boy after he went missing in early April 2018.
Joe Clyde had autism and was nonverbal, but was remembered by teachers and friends as a "very funny" and "energetic" boy who "loved to eat" and "loved his boots."
The small, close-knit Dickson County community was shaken by the disappearance and charges of murder. It followed the case intensely for three years. When Daniels was initially interrogated in the days following the disappearance, he told TBI agents that he beat "Baby Joe" to death after learning the child had urinated on the floor.
He said he disposed of Joe Clyde's body in an undisclosed remote location, investigators said. The child's body has not been found. He since retracted that confession, but Dickson County Circuit Court Judge David D. Wolfe allowed it to be shared in court.
"The question of whether that’s a false confession or not, is the jury question," Wolfe said.
Investigation - Trials
Throughout the trial, the defense repeatedly tried to undermine the capabilities of their client, seemingly in an effort to cast doubt on his ability to carry out and cover up a murder.
Defense attorney Matthew Mitchell told the jury his client is a liar, urging them not to trust a recorded confession and repeated follow up statements.
"He’s lied to you about everything," Mitchell said Friday, then asked, "But you’ve got to believe him that he killed his son?"
Mitchell argued law enforcement decided early on that Daniels was the prime suspect and suggested investigators may have ignored other leads in the search for Joe.
In response, prosecutors told the jury not to reward someone for getting away with murder. District Attorney General Ray Crouch reminded jurors that hundreds of law enforcement personnel and volunteers with dogs and helicopters searched the area for days looking for the missing boy.
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Daniels’ defense suggested the child may have escaped the house on his own and become lost in a fairly rural area of Dickson County. Prosecutors pointed to a series of locks on the door.
Without concrete evidence in the form of a body or strong forensic traces, both sides have struggled to definitively find what it is Daniels is suspected of doing to harm the child. Prosecutors said Daniels was worried his wife was planning to leave him and believed she would rely on government funding for Joe’s care to support herself and the other children.
Daniels' defense attorney, public defender Jake Lockert, spoke briefly to reporters after the verdict was read. He indicated he believed the testimony of another child in the home was instrumental in the guilty verdict against his client.
Lockert plans to file an appeal to the conviction. Before the jury began deliberating Friday, Wolfe explained the charges against Daniels and that some of the charges against him came with alternate, lesser charges they could choose if they felt there was reasonable doubt for a heavier conviction.
David Raybin, a Nashville defense attorney not involved in the case, said in an email the second-degree murder conviction will likely “merge” with the conviction for first-degree felony murder. The judge will decide if the sentences for the remaining counts will run concurrently or consecutively to the life sentence, Raybin said.
A life sentence for felony murder under Tennessee law requires a mandatory minimum of 51 years with no chance for parole, according to Raybin. Daniels asked to be returned to Riverbend Maximum Security Institution in Nashville while he awaited sentencing, where he has been held for the duration of the trial.
Daniels is set for a sentencing hearing on Sept. 14.
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