A Wisconsin mother, aged 34, faces arrest for her alleged involvement in the tragic death of her 3-year-old son, whose injuries were described by authorities as demonstrating a “complete and utter disregard for human life.”

Zaquitta Joiner-Murphy was apprehended last week with charges of child neglect resulting in death, following the violent demise of her son, Da’Quarius Berry, according to court documentation.

The probable cause affidavit reveals that Joiner-Murphy contacted emergency services shortly before 7 a.m. on Thursday, November 6, requesting medical help for her toddler at her residence on the 3200 block of North 29th Street. She informed investigators that upon returning home from escorting her four other children to the school bus stop, she found Da’Quarius “unresponsive and not breathing.”

Joiner-Murphy stated that she left her house shortly after 6:30 a.m. to see her other children off and was absent for roughly 10 minutes. In her conversation with the police, she described discovering her son “lying on his back and foaming from his mouth.”

The affidavit specifies that Joiner-Murphy asserted Da’Quarius had no prior injuries or medical issues that would explain his condition upon her return.

Emergency responders transferred Da’Quarius to the Emergency Department at Children’s Wisconsin for urgent care. Despite doctors’ exhaustive efforts to revive him for nearly an hour, he was declared deceased at approximately 8:41 a.m., as detailed in the report.

“Medical staff located a large hemorrhage in [Da’Quarius’] abdomen that would have been caused by non-accidental trauma,” the affidavit states. “The injuries sustained by [Da’Quarius] shows that the actor acted with complete and utter disregard for human life.”

In an interview with police, Joiner-Murphy said the victim woke up at about 5:45 a.m. that morning and was “acting normal and running around” the family home. She claimed she had left the victim in the care of her boyfriend while she drove the school-age children to the bus. The boyfriend was still at the home when she returned and found her son unresponsive and “lifeless,” per the affidavit.

In addition to her boyfriend, Joiner-Murphy said a female friend named “Peaches,” who lived in the apartment upstairs, would sometimes check on the five children when Joiner-Murphy was working at night. Joiner-Murphy said she had worked the previous evening — Nov. 5 — and that Peaches had checked on the kids.

However, when questioned by police, Peaches said that from Nov. 5 through Nov. 7, she had been staying with her grandmother. The grandmother later confirmed those dates with police and provided investigators with home surveillance footage showing her granddaughter was at her home.

“[Peaches] was not responsible for watching the Defendant’s children during the evening of Nov. 5, into the morning of Nov. 6,” the affidavit states.

During a follow-up interview, police said Joiner-Murphy changed portions of her story. She allegedly admitted that on the night of Nov. 5, she and her boyfriend had stayed at her place until about midnight, before “leaving the five children home alone” to get some food. They returned home briefly, but left again at 1:30 a.m. to go to “Kickbacks,” where Joiner-Murphy tended bar until about 5:30 a.m.

“The Defendant confirmed that ‘Peaches’ was not home during this time and the Defendant left her five children home alone,” police wrote.

On the morning of Nov. 6, Joiner-Murphy said her boyfriend was asleep in the bedroom when she took the kids to the bus. She then went to the store and returned to find [Da’Quarius] asleep on the couch. After taking a shower, Joiner-Murphy said she went to change the victim, only to find that his “body was limp” and his mouth was “filled with a foamy mucus.” That’s when she screamed and her boyfriend called 911.

“The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of [Da’Quarius] are ongoing,” police wrote. “As of the filing of this complaint, the Defendant is one of two suspects who had the opportunity to inflict the blunt force trauma to [Da’Quarius’] abdomen. Additionally, the investigation by the Milwaukee Police Department established that the Defendant left her five children home alone unattended from approximately midnight on November 5, 2025, through 5:45 AM on November 6, 2025.”

Joiner-Murphy is currently being held in the Milwaukee County Jail on $50,000 cash-only bond, records show. She is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on Nov. 21.

A GoFundMe for the victim’s funeral and memorial services can be found here.