A 6-YEAR-OLD BOY DEAD, WHAT HAPPENED TO “JO-JO” JOSEPH KING?
Crime Stories with Nancy Grace
iHeartPodcasts and CrimeOnline
4.2 • 8.1K Ratings
🗓️ 18 April 2026
⏱️ 44 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
6-year-old Joseph "Jo-Jo" King III dies under suspicious circumstances. His stepfather, Brandon Hale, claims Jo-Jo accidentally suffocated inside a toy chest, but investigations revealed inconsistencies in this story.
Brandon Hale calls 911 to report that he found Jo-Jo unconscious in a toy chest after waking up from a nap. Jo-Jo was hospitalized with oxygen deprivation then days later An autopsy later amended the cause of death to reflect "concern for possible homicidal drowning" because the toy chest was not airtight, and parts of the scene were wet. First responders and investigators noted the toy chest was dry and partially filled with toys, while Jo-Jo's clothes were damp and a wet towel was found nearby.
Hale was previously convicted of abusing Jo-Jo with a belt in 2019, and sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating probation related to the case. He has not been charged with murdering Jo-Jo.
Joining Nancy Grace today
- Joseph King, Jr. - Father
- Philip Dubé - Former Court-Appointed Counsel, Los Angeles County Public Defenders: Criminal & Constitutional Law, Forensics & Mental Health Advocacy
- Max Miner - President and CEO of Executive Treatment Solutions (ETS), Website: ExecTreatmentSolutions.com
- Kat Schollenberger - U.S. Head of Live New at Daily Mail dot com, website: DailyMail.com
- Dave Mack - Investigative Reporter, 'Crime Stories'
See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | This is an I-Heart podcast. Guaranteed Human. |
| 0:04.8 | Crime Stories with Nancy Grace. |
| 0:10.3 | A six-year-old boy is dead. Why? What happened to six-year-old Joe Joseph King III? I'm Nancy Grace. This is Crime Stories. I want to thank you |
| 0:25.2 | for being with us. Six-year-old Joseph King is a loving superhero-obsessed child who enjoys playing sports. One day his mom |
| 0:39.7 | leaves him at home with his stepfather and a couple of hours later, Jojo is found unresponsive. |
| 0:47.0 | The little boy is dead. Why? What happened? Joining us an all-star panel, but first, I want to go straight out to Jojo's biological father. |
| 1:00.4 | It is Detective Joseph King, Jr. |
| 1:05.0 | Detective, thank you for being with us. Tell me about Jojo. |
| 1:08.4 | Jojo was born and raised right in the land. |
| 1:10.5 | We lived together for his first, like, four and a half years. |
| 1:16.8 | He was born right here, living in Dunwood, we all, we lived together. |
| 1:21.0 | Men's mom never was married. |
| 1:23.9 | It's just one of the things where when you're dating sometimes y'all just go separate ways |
| 1:29.7 | and how y'all going to handle things um we we went out separate ways she moved back to her hometown |
| 1:36.3 | which was in um Texas and as soon as she moved back um you, she's telling me that she's dating somebody. |
| 1:48.0 | It's a high school sweetheart. |
| 1:49.8 | Somebody she's already known. |
| 1:53.3 | And this is how Jojo became, you know, with stepdad. |
| 2:01.3 | Stepdad went from my boyfriend in the year to where now they're married. |
| 2:07.7 | Detective Joseph King, Jr. is with us tonight. |
| 2:12.2 | Searching for answers and the death of his six-year-old little boy, Joseph King III, named after him, known as Jojo. |
| 2:22.0 | Very quickly, after your ex married the stepfather, tragedy strikes. |
... |
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