Inset (left): Marquise Anderson (Tarrant County Sheriff’s Office). Inset (right): Joanna Shoulder (TruCare Funeral Services). Background: The Fort Worth, Texas, neighborhood where first responders were called to assist Joanna Shoulder on Feb. 8 (Google Maps).
A Texas father is in custody after authorities accused him of fatally beating his 9-year-old daughter earlier this year.
Marquise Anderson, 35, was charged Tuesday with capital murder of a person under 10 years old in connection with the death of his daughter, 9-year-old Joanna Shoulder, who died of extensive blunt force injuries.
Details outlined in an affidavit obtained by local NBC affiliate KXAS say Fort Worth Police Department officers were dispatched to Anderson’s home in Fort Worth, Texas, around 3:15 a.m. on Feb. 8. When first responders arrived, they found Joanna lying on the floor. She was taken to a hospital, where police said they learned she was covered in bruises. Joanna later died from her injuries, prompting homicide detectives to focus their investigation on Anderson.
Investigators said a woman who was inside the home when emergency crews were called told police that Anderson had allegedly disciplined Joanna with a belt the day before her death. In the early hours of Feb. 8, Anderson reportedly woke the woman and said Joanna had become sick while in the bathtub. He claimed he had stepped away to get her a glass of water, heard noises from the bathroom, and returned to find that Joanna had vomited and struck her head after falling.
Paramedics arrived to find the woman performing CPR on the child, according to police.
During an interview with investigators, Anderson said Joanna had wet the bed twice that night. After the second time, he told police he placed her in the bathtub for about three hours to clean her up. Authorities said Anderson admitted to spanking Joanna and, after she allegedly smirked at him, admitted to striking her with a belt that had a metal buckle.
Anderson told police that after the alleged beating, he checked on Joanna as she remained in the tub. He said her condition worsened and that she became “sleepy, thirsty, hot, and slurr[ed] her speech” before collapsing and vomiting. Anderson then called 911. Police said he gave investigators multiple explanations for the injuries to Joanna’s head.
According to police, the autopsy on Joanna revealed that the 9-year-old suffered “abundant hemorrhage of the soft tissues” and “multiple bruises on Joanna’s back, thighs, lower extremities, and flank.” She had multiple blunt force injuries to her head and neck and bleeding underneath her scalp and around her cervical and thoracic spinal canal.
On June 16, the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled that Joanna’s manner of death was homicide. Authorities arrested Anderson on Tuesday. He remains in custody at the Tarrant County Jail, where he is being held without bond. His next court date was not immediately available.
