Montana grandma faces execution for ‘beating grandson, 12, to death after stripping him naked & torturing him with hose’
A MONTANA grandma could face execution if convicted of torturing her young grandson to death by allegedly stripping and abusing him with a hose, say prosecutors.
Thousands have signed an online petition calling for the death penalty for grandparents Patricia Batts and James Sasser Jr after the horrific beating death of James Alex Hurley, 12.
The grandparents and Batts' teenage son have been charged with deliberate homicide.
Batts' daughter, Madison Sasser, is also in custody after being charged with aggravated kidnapping and negligent homicide.
James had been living with his grandparents, two uncles and an aunt in West Yellowstone for about two years prior to his February 3 death, court records said.
After he was killed investigators found evidence, including videos, that indicated James's grandparents and his 14-year-old uncle regularly abused him, including beating him with a wooden paddle and locking up food.
“I believe the systematic torture and beatings perpetrated on the victim in this case led to his death,” said prosecutor Bjorn Boyer.
Batts and the 14-year-old told investigators that James and his uncle had a “bad fight” on January 27.
The uncle reported he found James standing over Batts with a knife, court records said.
KICKED IN HEAD
The 14-year-old also acknowledged kicking James in the head multiple times in the 24 to 36 hours before his death, charging documents added.
The unnamed uncle is about six feet (1.83m) tall and weighs about 300 pounds (136kg) while James was five feet, three inches (1.6m) tall and weighed about 100 pounds (45kg), the court information said.
Batts said James slept on the floor in the living room and was mumbling and moaning throughout the night before she reported finding him dead the next morning.
The prosecutor said that nobody sought medical attention for the victim.
An autopsy found that James had bruising all over his body and died from trauma to the head.
DEATH PENALTY
reports that on May 8, Deputy Gallatin County Attorney Bjorn Boyer filed a court notice saying he was seeking the death penalty for the child's grandmother.
The charging documents allege that Batts beat James and urged some of her children to also hurt him - before he died.
Video footage found by the police during their investigation showed relatives torturing the boy.
Court records say that two years before he was killed, James had appeared to be a "healthy and well-fed boy", but he was "emaciated" in the recent clips.
The video also allegedly shows his family refusing to give him food, and forcing him to do squats, jumping jacks and other exercise.
His horrific death prompted an - signed by 2,330 people - to "get justice" for James.
It says: “The death penalty is deserved and we want the prosecution team to know.”
TORTURE ON VIDEO
Calling for the execution of Batts and Sasser Jr, the e-petition adds that the abuse inflicted upon the child was the worst that Gallatin County Sheriff Brian Gootkin had said he'd seen in his career.
“The preliminary report from Doctor Prasher was blunt force trauma to the back of James's head,” Gootkin said.
The petition explains that after his dad passed away in 2018, his mom tried to call, with documents showing Batts blocked her from reaching him.
Investigators found places in his grandparents' home where large amounts of blood were cleaned with vinegar.
Then, they found videos, the petition says.
“She (Batts) is on a lot of the videos that show the torture to this young boy,” Boyer explained.
“She’s in the videos seen strangling the boy.”
Alleged torture of James included forcing him to sit nearly naked while he was sprayed with water in front of fans before he was beaten to death on the living room floor.
Documents filed in court also revealed how James's grandparents, James Sasser Jr., 47, and Patricia Batts, 48 — and their 14-year-old son — .
Most Read in US News
James' 18-year-old aunt – who lived under the same roof as the family, along with James' six-year-old uncle – allegedly told her boyfriend in a message that she wanted James to “go and die in the woods," according to the documents.
In one message, she described him as "a piece of (crap) off of my f***ing shoe," the court information said.
All of the four accused have pleaded not guilty, and remain in custody on bond.
Do you have a story for The US Sun team?
Email us at [email protected] or call 212 416 4552.