Judge tells toddler killer ‘God have mercy on your soul’ as he’s hauled off to death row for murdering stepson over a juice box

A 41-year-old man is headed to death row after a jury convicted him for fatally beating his 2-year-old stepson in Mississippi, according to reports.

The jury in Biloxi took two hours on Friday to decide that Joseph David Heard deserved to die for the heinous death of Hayden Lee Bataille, the Sun Herald newspaper reported. Jurors took just 45 minutes to convict Heard of first-degree murder.

“God have mercy on your soul,” Judge Larry Bourgeois reportedly said.

Records show Hayden’s mother and Heard’s wife, 24-year-old Hailey Heard, already was convicted of first-degree murder to life in prison. She reportedly testified against him during the trial.

Paramedics found Hayden unconscious after his father called 911 on Dec. 16, 2021. Doctors pronounced the victim dead 11 days later. The impetus behind the beating was Hayden taking too long to find a juice box, the court heard. Joseph Heard repeatedly punched the boy in the mouth and head, the Sun Herald reported.

Hailey Heard reportedly testified that her husband continued to beat the toddler even as he cried. She told jurors that she saw her husband lift the boy up with one hand and punch him with the other. Then she reportedly put her hand over her son’s mouth and proceeded to suffocate him.

Joseph Heard also testified at his trial, reportedly denying he ever heard the boy and blamed the injuries on the toddler playing rough. But Hailey Heard described how her husband would beat Hayden as a punishment.

Emergency room doctors described Hayden’s awful injuries at trial.

“It was one of the most horrific scenes I’ve witnessed as an ER doctor,” Dr. Leanne Lee testified, according to the Sun Herald. “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,” Parker reportedly added.

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