The Small, Brief Hell of Baby Joe

This is a true crime story that deals with abuse, neglect, endangerment, and death of a child. Reader discretion is advised.

In any case one of the requirements of jury selection is ideally that those chosen know as little about the situation or the people involved as possible. This is difficult enough when being summoned for jury duty is not the average enviable task. Another is that in certain instances, the selected will be asked about certain biases they might have in order to understand how they will subjectively see the situation. When the presumed death of a child comes in, there will be many strong opinions which spur more philosophical questions.

What was their home life? Who were they last seen with? Was there a dramatic change that might cause a runaway?

Where were the parents?

On June 2nd 2021 the opening statements began in a courthouse in Dickson County, Tennessee. A jury of twelve and four alternates were selected from almost three hours away in Chattanooga and were bused to Dickson the following Thursday. This is a case three years in the making with unbelievable and horrific circumstances that involve abuse of an autistic child, and a confession which was debated about being used.

THE TIMELINE

APRIL 2018

In April 4th of 2018 five-year-old ‘Baby Joe’ Joe Clyde Daniels was reported missing. He is non-verbal autistic and last seen the previous Tuesday at his home in Dickson on Garners Creek Road. His father, Joe Daniels Sr., was arrested. Three days later the Tennessee Bureau of Investigation along with Dickson County officials confirmed that Joe Sr. had been charged with criminal homicide. A vigil was held to remember Baby Joe as well as a prayer service.

On April 9th court documents were released that assumed missing Baby Joe had been beaten to death by his father who put him in the trunk of his car and hid the body in a remote location. This was a confession given by Joe Sr mere days after his arrest. Baby Joe’s mother, on this same day, was revealed to have been home at the time of his death. Krystal Daniels was held at the Dickson County Jail on a million dollar bond.

The hearing for the accused parents was held April 13th. Crowds of people were lined on the sidewalk and demanding answers on the whereabouts of Baby Joe. Dickson County Sheriff’s Office were still working on a search effort to find Baby Joe and were looking for home security footage between the third and the sixth; the TBI believes that Bay Joe was killed on the night of April third. A reminder, that this is without any body.

MAY

Bones found on the largest search at the time of May 18th were ruled out for being animal. Nothing had turned up.

JUNE

On June 2nd, Dickson County Sergeant Daniel Baker was killed in the line of duty. It was a huge blow to the community who had tried to be strong in the eight week search of the five year old and were now burying another of their own. A few miles from the local First Baptist Church where neighbors were leaving flowers and messages for the deputy, a few dozen people were out searching for Baby Joe.

On June 4th the case against Joe Sr. and Krystal Daniels was decided to head to the grand jury. They received a nine count indictment, of which Krystal Daniels was not charged with first degree murder. Despite the continued absence of Baby Joe’s body, the officials considered it a ‘glitch’ in the system.

JULY

A luncheon took place from the Dickson community to its local law enforcement as a thanks for their work on July 7th.

July 28th, 2018 Baby Joe’s sixth birthday went on without him celebrated by family and friends.

AUGUST

Krystal Daniels appeared in court for the death of her son on August sixth. It is claimed that she didn’t report Baby Joe’s abuse and homicide, and allegedly knows that Joe Sr. removed the body. She was granted a request to be moved to a facility in Davidson County, the seat of Tennessee’s capital Nashville.

OCTOBER

The search entered its sixth month. No body had been found and a drone was introduced to make note if the ground had been disturbed.

Joseph Ray Daniels was found competent to stand trial in his son’s death. Also revealed on October 23rd, a letter claiming that Baby Joe was still alive had been sent to his grandparents. DNA evidence confirmed that it matched Joe Sr. His indictments included first-degree murder, child abuse and aggravated child abuse, child neglect, filing a false report, and tampering or fabricating evidence. Krystal Daniels was indicted on aggravated child abuse and aggravated child neglect, accessory after the fact, child neglect, and filing a false report.

DECEMBER

A private investigator offered a $10k reward for information on the location of Baby Joe on December 3rd.

2019

FEBRUARY

Joe Sr. Requested to be sent back to Dickson County Jail. While there initially, he had been moved to Riverbend Maximum Security in Nashville. His attorney claimed he would get better care in Dickon County. Krystal Daniels also was there the same day on the 28th, but it is unclear why.

APRIL

The fourth marked the one year anniversary of Baby Joe Clyde Daniels’ disappearance from Dickson County. A vigil was held in his remembrance.

JULY

New evidence was revealed on July 23rd when the TBI announced it was looking at Joe Sr.’s blood was found on a shovel as well as a hair. It wasn’t specified where the shovel had been discovered.

OCTOBER

Still held on a million dollar bond, Krystal Daniels’ lawyer requested that it be reduced to $50,000. The court was reminded that she heard her husband beat their son, seeing him standing over the lifeless body of their son, and going back to sleep. The judge also agreed that she could flee, cover up evidence, or discard it completely. She was denied.

Her mother-in-law said after leaving the courthouse, that she was “glad she didn’t get out”.

2020

MAY

Two years after Baby Joe was last seen, a search warrant was executed May 21st for the property. This continued on the 22nd, and resumed on the 26th.

JULY

Circuit Court Judge David Wolfe unsealed the search warrant he signed in May for the TBI. Investigators found twenty-six bones and bone fragments, two bags of dirt, and a root ball and plastic on the Garner Creek Road property where they lived. Joe Sr. had confessed to beating Joe to death, but couldn’t remember where he’d hid the body.

SEPTEMBER

Notably, a court hearing was postponed the third of September when four TBI agents were possibly exposed to COVID-19 and had to quarantine.

Three weeks later on the 24th Joe Sr spent the majority of the day in court. Video was shown of his polygraph saying he didn’t kill Baby Joe. It is important to note that these tests can be easily falsified from stress or other factors and aren’t commonly used as evidence in court. Daniels denied doing anything that night, but hours of interrogation went by when he nodded ‘yes’ when asked if he hurt his son. The defense argued that Daniels was persuaded into a false confession. He wanted the interrogation confession excluded from evidence.

The following day of the 25th was continuance of the confession tape. A few hours of interrogation happened right after the polygraph test, which was itself just a few days from his son’s disappearance. An argument arose whether Joe Sr was there voluntarily or kept unlawfully. A TBI agent advised him that he didn’t have to participate and was free to leave.

2021

FEBRUARY

On February 8th, 2021 a trial date for Joseph Daniels was set to start in June. The discussion of community and social media response was also discussed.

APRIL

Judge David D. Wolfe amended the Gag Order on the trial to allow for limited comment. He decided that the trials for Joseph and Krystal Daniels would be separate. Joe Sr.’s would begin two months later on June 1st.

Five days later on April 6th a hearing took place with several shocking details. Daniels’ home had been forensically cleaned before the search. There were no toys, clothes, or other belongings present belonging to the missing Baby Joe. Additionally, their toothbrushes didn’t contain any DNA evidence. Baby Joe’s DNA was obtained by the TBI from Vanderbilt University Medical Center for comparisons.

The second revelation was when Joseph Daniels’ father took the witness stand. An audio recording was played between Joseph and his father while Joseph was in jail. Joseph claimed that Krystal Daniels killed their son with a pillow and claimed to kill him if he told anyone the truth.

MAY

Judge David Wolfe re-instated the gag order on the seventh.

JUNE

In the first week of the month on June 7th, Baby Joe’s older brother testified that his stepfather threatened to kill him after he saw Joseph Daniels lay Baby Joe in the yard. Alex (last name available online but kept redacted here) was eight when Baby Joe disappeared. He lived in the home on Garners Creek Road in 2018, but now lived with his maternal aunt and uncle. He was the first to testify who was in the home when Baby Joe went missing and took the courtroom back to that night.

Alex and Baby Joe stayed in the same room. He said his stepfather came into the room and beat the five year old for peeing on the floor. Alex went back to sleep, but woke up from a loud bang to see Baby Joe on the floor. This was when Joseph Daniels threatened him. Alex returned to bed. In the morning, he was told that Baby Joe had escaped.

Alex admitted under cross-examination that he told different stories after that night, including when questioned two days after the disappearance by an investigator from a Child Advocacy Center. He lied to protect his stepfather so that he wouldn’t get in trouble. He told one story that he had teleported and sleepwalked. When left with a therapy dog, Alex said he was happy his dad was in jail and that he ‘got away from the evil’. When District Attorney Ray Crouch asked if he didn’t want to protect him anymore, Alex said no.

Four days later on the eighth of June, Joseph Daniels’ confession tape from 2018 was introduced as evidence. Since then, the confession was recanted and he claimed it had been coerced. Multiple pre-trial motions had occurred to allow the jury to see the confession and it wasn’t until late Monday that it was allowable. TBI Agent Joey Boyd was the one who took the stand to discuss it.

Joseph Daniels told him that Baby Joe woke up that night, moved the coffee table, and unlocked the padlock on the backdoor. He initially says that he went out to search for him, but told Krystal that he was gone. Three hours later, Joseph Daniels changed his story where he admitted killing Baby Joe to get out of the interview. He comes to tell Boyd that he was the one to tell Baby Joe to go outside.

Neighbor Jenny Jones also testified on an early Tuesday morning. In a written statement, she said the person she saw around 1:30 a.m. was Joseph Daniels’ face and that he never looked at her. She later testified that person did. She didn’t see a dead child at that time.

TBI Agent Boyd was called to introduce the redacted version of the confession video, but the defense team said it hadn’t had a chance to see it. A hearing was then held at noon after a three hour recess. Jake Lockert, public defender representing Joseph Daniels, asked for “a part of the video involving dogs being dropped off to not be shown to jury”. Recess resumed to allow edits of the transcripts and the trial resumed at one o’clock.

June 9th marked the sixth day of Joseph Daniels’ murder trial still without a body found. Dickson County Sheriff Detective Trevor Daniel interviewed Joseph Daniels on April 4th. Daniels told Detective Trevor a similar story where Baby Joe climbed on the coffee table and unlocked the padlock. Joseph Daniels then asked them to check his trunk. Detective Trevor also noted that Joseph Daniels changed his story about looking at the back door and noticing the missing lock, to not looking at the door or seeing the lock. Joseph Daniels also didn’t tell Detective Trevor that Alex woke him when Baby Joe peed on the floor.

Audio clips played of Joseph Daniels showing detectives where he brought Joe Clyde’s body after his April 2018 confession. Although he would later say that he didn’t remember, he broke emotionally on the way to the location; how he “didn’t want to see him, didn’t want this to happen”, how his dad is going to kill him, he wanted to apologize to his wife, wondering why he did it. In the audio recording, he claimed he buried Baby Joe in a large field near a tree and covered him with grass.

TBI Agent Brandt Holt got a different location: Piney River in Hickman County, dropping the body off a bridge. Joseph Daniels also claimed that his father got in the car with him and confessed to what he’d done. Holt stated that this was not forced.

Six TBI witnesses verified what the defense had been arguing from day one: there was no physical evidence that linked Joseph Daniels to killing Baby Joe.

Closing statements came June 10th. Joseph Daniels didn’t testify, but a lot more evidence against him and Krystal Daniels came out.

Dash cam video on officers arriving at the Daniels’ home in April 2018 showed Daniels drive away at 7:36 a.m. and returned home at 9:19 a.m. Daniels was seen driving past Bethany Retreat House three miles away. But around 9:13 a.m. phone data shows Daniels called Nashville State Community College to verify documentation for his job with DaVita before returning home. Daniels called Nashville State while dozens of people were out searching for 5-year-old Joe Clyde on April 4.

Video showed Daniels leaving his house around 2:15 a.m. on April 5, 2018, and going to the Love’s Truck Stop. It also showed him at the store at 2:44 a.m. and twenty minutes later. He returned home that day at 3:28 a.m.

20,000 pages of direct messages between Thomas Richard and Krystal Daniels admitted as evidence of her having an affair with offensive and sexual messages. The messages stated Krystal Daniels wasn’t happy the last three years and wanted a divorce. Krystal Daniels told Richards in March 2018 she was unhappy. Evidence was also introduced that Daniels searched anonymous parental tests, how he can get a paternity test without his parents knowing, and flight and rental car information in Wichita, KS, which is where Richards lives. Daniels messaged his mom on March 31, 2018

“by the time you see this message I’ll be 6 feet under”.

Three years and two months after Baby Joe went missing and Joseph Daniels confessed to beating his son to death, Daniels was found guilty on five on his six charges. Second degree murder, first degree murder in perpetration of a felony, aggravated child abuse, initiating a false report, and tampering with evidence. He was convicted not guilty of first degree murder. He had confessed multiple times and made admissions when it wasn’t in his best interest, but none of them have led to knowing where Baby Joe Clyde Daniels’ was buried.

Sentencing will take place in September 2021.