Newly released texts reveal the horrifying treatment a 12-year-old Montana boy received from relatives before he was beaten to death on the living room floor last month.
James 'Alex' Hurley, died February 3 and his grandparents, 47-year-old James Sasser Jr. and 48-year-old Patricia Batts, as well as his 14-year-old uncle James Sasser III are charged with deliberate homicide.
Hurley's 18-year-old aunt, Madison Sasser, texted her boyfriend that the child should 'go die in the woods' and described him as 'a piece of (crap) off of my f**king shoe', the Billings Gazette reports.
Sasser and Hurley's six-year-old uncle lived with the relatives who allegedly physically abused and starved the child.
According to documents, Hurley was made to sit half-naked in front of fans and was sprayed with water. Batts is said to have commented, 'that’s what they do with cats, right?'
The grandmother told detectives Hurley 'drove her nuts' and had become 'increasingly problematic' since his father died about two years ago following an ATV accident that left him paralyzed.
Batts said he was stealing from stores, his own family and was drinking alcohol. The accused people claim he was self-harming and described his behavior as 'erratic'.
The child's mother told detectives she had tried to get in contact with him but the family stopped her.
Batts claimed she pulled him out of school because he got in trouble for groping a girl. She admitted she made the child do jumping jacks and 'wall sits' if he didn't do his schoolwork.
West Yellowstone school superintendent Kevin Flanagan told a detective that he was not aware of any groping incident.
The grandmother was also questioned about where the child's 14-year-old uncle - who is accused of homicide - learned to discipline. Batts replied: 'I guess me.'
Batts said she knew he had 'popped' Hurley with a paddle. They said that the uncle had made a paddle out of wood and he and Batts would use it to punish the young boy, according to court documents.
Batts allegedly admitted to allowing Sasser III to punish Hurley when she wasn't home. She told authorities she doesn't know how her grandson died and doesn't feel responsible for his death.
Footage reportedly showed the grandparents and Sasser III 'hitting him with a wooden paddle, strangling him and locking up food.'
In some of the footage, Batts is seen strangling and hitting the boy, prosecutors said.
James Sasser III reportedly admitted to kicking Hurley's head several times in the 24 to 36 hours before his death.
Hurley died from head trauma after Sasser III, who is six-feet-tall and weighs 300 pounds, allegedly got into a 'bad fight' with the boy.
The suspect reportedly claims he found Hurley standing over his grandmother with a knife.
Batts reportedly said Hurley slept on the floor in the living room on February 2 and was mumbling and moaning throughout the night before she found him dead the next morning.
Nobody sought medical help for the victim. The autopsy found the Hurley had bruising all over his body and died from trauma to the head.
Sasser III appeared via video Thursday in Gallatin County District Court and pleaded not guilty to beating his 12-year-old nephew to death.
The grandparents said they documented the boy's actions on video in order to prove he needed help to behavioral specialists.
Batts was specifically charged with criminal child endangerment, aggravated kidnapping and strangulation of a partner or family member. She could get the death penalty if convicted.
They both appeared in court last month where bail was set at $500,000 for Sasser Jr. and $750,000 for Batts.
Family acquaintance Gage Roush, 18, was also arrested last month and charged with felony assault on a minor in relation to Hurley's death.
The family have reportedly admitted to physically abusing the boy, but claim the boy was problematic and violent. The videos were reportedly evidence for when they took him to 'get help' from mental health officials.
The accused told detectives that Hurley had tried to hurt himself and others on several occasions and he had complained of hearing voices telling him to kill people.
Additionally, a neighbor said Batts, Sasser III and an unnamed 18-year-old aunt beat Hurley after he tried to run away in December, documents said.
The victim and his uncle allegedly fought often but a fight on January 27 was 'worse'.
Detectives said Batts described the fight after Sasser III allegedly saw Hurley with a knife as a 'blood bath'.
Sasser Jr. told investigators that he considered Batts' punishments for Hurley egregious and he planned on divorcing his wife to raise the family's children alone.
Batts, Sasser Jr. and Roush have not entered pleas yet.
Source: dailymail.co.uk, Leah Simpson, March 10, 2020
Montana teen pleads not guilty in death of 12-year-old nephew
A 14-year-old Montana boy pleaded not guilty to torturing and fatally beating his 12-year-old nephew, according to a report.
The teen, identified by the Bozeman Daily Chronicle as James Sasser III, appeared via video Thursday in Gallatin County District Court, where he pleaded not guilty to felony deliberate homicide in the Feb. 3 death of James “Alex” Hurley.
The boy’s grandparents, James Sasser Jr., 47, and Patricia Batts, 48, also face charges of deliberate homicide in the case. Court records show that the 12-year-old had been living with the pair along with two uncles and an aunt in West Yellowstone for about two years before he died of head injuries.
Sasser III allegedly acknowledged kicking Hurley in the head multiple times in the 24 to 36 hours before his death, charging documents said.
But investigators found video evidence that the boy’s grandparents had abused him regularly before he died, along with footage of beatings from Sasser III and another man known to the family, Gage Roush, 18, who has been charged with felony assault of a minor.
Batts told cops that the family had recorded Hurley on video for evidence when they took him to “get help” for mental health issues, the newspaper reports.
Hurley’s father, and Batts’ son, reportedly died two years ago from an infection after an ATV accident left him paralyzed from the waist down, according to the Bozeman Daily Chronicle.
Batts also told investigators she would force her grandson to do jumping jacks and sit against a wall if he didn’t do his homework. At other times, she made him stand half-nude in front of fans as she squirted him with water, court documents show.
“That’s what they do with cats, right?” she allegedly said.
A neighbor claimed Batts, Sasser III and Alex’s unnamed 18-year-old aunt once beat the boy after he tried running away in December, prosecutors said in charging documents.
Source: nypost.com, Joshua Rhett Miller, March 6, 2020
Montana boy beaten to death by family seen in torture videos
GALLATIN COUNTY, MONTANA: New text messages and videos obtained by investigators show how a 12-year-old Montana boy who was beaten to death was tortured -- emotionally and physically -- in the preceding months. MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported that grandparents James Sasser Jr. and Patricia Batts, as well as 14-year-old uncle James Sasser III, were arrested in connection to the disturbing death of James 'Alex' Hurley.
Hurley was found dead on the living room floor of his grandparents' Montana home on February 3 after he spent the night mumbling and moaning in pain. Nobody sought medical help for the boy, who had bruising all over his body and died from trauma to the head.
Hurley had been sent to Montana by his mother to live with his father. According to a criminal complaint from the Gallatin County Attorney's Office, Hurley's mother lives in Texas. His father had died in 2018 and so he ended up living with his grandparents and uncle, the complaint revealed.
The 12-year-old had reportedly been kicked in the head several times by Sasser III, who is six-feet-tall and weighs 300 pounds, in the 24 to 36 hours before his death, though his misery dates much farther back.
In a text message, Hurley's 18-year-old aunt Madison texted her boyfriend that the boy could "go die in the woods" and said he was "a piece of (crap) off of my f**king shoe."
Videos
Investigators have also found multiple videos of the 12-year-old being tortured by the family before his death.
A December 12, 2019, video from Batts' phone shows the boy doing forced jumping jacks while holding his buttocks and crying to go to the bathroom as his grandmother mocks him.
Several videos show him being forced to sit against the wall or door to the garage in a squat position, while in a Jan 10, 2020 video, a larger male hits him with a piece of wood as he screams about committing suicide.
In another disturbing punishment meted out on January 27, 2020, Hurley was made to sit half-naked in front of fans and was sprayed with water. Batts is said to have commented, 'that’s what they do with cats, right?'
In a similar Jan 17 video, Batts tells him, "Oh, you’re not even a human, you’re some kind of thing." The family has tried to lay the blame for Hurley's death on the 12-year-old himself and claimed he had been "increasingly problematic" since his father died two years ago following an ATV accident that left him paralyzed.
Batts claimed the young boy was stealing from stores, his family, and drinking alcohol. She also claimed she had to pull him out of school because he had gotten into trouble for groping a girl, an allegation that West Yellowstone school superintendent Kevin Flanagan said he did not know about.
The rest of the accused similarly said Hurley was problematic and violent. Describing his behavior as "erratic," they said he was self-harming and had tried to hurt himself and others on several occasions, and revealed he had complained of hearing voices telling him to kill people. The grandparents said they documented the boy's actions on video in order to prove he needed help to behavioral specialists.
Sasser Jr. has been charged with deliberate homicide while Batts has been charged with criminal child endangerment, aggravated kidnapping, and strangulation of a partner or family member and faces the death penalty if convicted.
Gage Roush, 18, a family acquaintance, has also been arrested in connection to Hurley's death and has been charged with felony assault on a minor. As per court documents, Roush who is a family friend could be seen on cell phone footage beating up Hurley using a paddle.
Sasser III, who has been also charged with deliberate homicide has entered a not guilty plea in connection to his 12-year-old nephew's death, while Sasser Jr., Batts, and Roush are yet to enter their pleas.
Source: meaww.com, Akshay Pai, March 10, 2020
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"One is absolutely sickened, not by the crimes that the wicked have committed,
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde
but by the punishments that the good have inflicted." -- Oscar Wilde