Joy Hodge

Case record: Joy Hodge

Background

Joy Hodge was a Warren, Ohio mother who lived with her daughter A’nana Brantley in a Transylvania Avenue S.E. home.

Hodge was related to the victim as her mother. The victim was A’nana Brantley, who was 15 months old at the time of her death.

Hodge’s aunt, Pamela Hawkins, believed “someone else killed A'nana” and said: “Joy is innocent. There is not a doubt in my mind there is more to this story and we will find it, we will not give up,” during court proceedings before sentencing.

The child’s father, David Brantley, testified in court before Hodge was sentenced and said: “Just her smile, wanting to see me every time I come in the room her face would just light up. That's the most thing I can remember about her,” and also: “These two people, my daughter and her mom, both of these people just got taken away from me so there is nothing I can do that I'm happy or can celebrate about. It's just something I am going to have to live with the rest of my life,” while stating he was not mad at Hodge and “still loves her.”

The offence

Hodge was accused of murdering her daughter, A’nana Brantley, in the September 2011 beating death of the 15-month-old child.

During closing arguments, prosecutors told the jury that Hodge beat A’nana “to death” and “tried to cover it up.”

The indictment described the abuse as “recklessly abused” the child and caused her death “as a proximate result of committing or attempting to commit a first or second degree felonious assault or child endangering.”

A coroner ruled homicide after discovering multiple blunt force traumatic injuries on the head, face and neck along with a lacerated liver.

The child was found bruised and cold to the touch and was found dead in an upstairs bedroom / second-floor crib.

A lacerated liver was identified in the autopsy, and the back of the head was described as “mush.”

Investigation

A coroner testified and gave an estimate of the time of death based on the evidence presented.

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Diane Barber stated that “Twelve people heard the case and unanimously found her guilty of everything she was charged with.”

A detective described efforts to unravel misinformation and stated: “It was a joint effort between the Warren Police Department, the prosecutor's office and others to make sure that we could present this case effectively to the jury,” and also: “It took the entire detective division to unravel it cause we were being misled by the convicted individual here, several different directions. She would tell us one thing and then tell us something else so it really took all of us to straighten out and come to the conclusion, which was that she did this.”

During questioning, Detective Wayne Mackey described the interaction with Hodge as follows: “one explosive moment.”

Mackey said: “It looked like it happened sometime after you got home. And it looks like something went wrong.”

Mackey questioned Hodge about the beating death and attempted to piece together a timeline of the 2011 Labor Day weekend.

Coroner Dr. Humphrey Germaniuk fixed the toddler’s time of death from 1:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. the day the child was found.

The case included the allegation that police were being misled by Hodge. Previously, police said Hodge didn’t help them find the killer and intentionally misled investigators.

Arrest

Joy Hodge was arrested just before 4:30 p.m. on September 16, 2011.

The arrest was based on a warrant charging Hodge with felonious assault in connection with the death of 16-month-old A’nana Brantley.

Police were called to Hodge’s home on September 6 to reports of a deceased baby in an upstairs bedroom, and police found Brantley there.

Hodge was arraigned on Friday and issued $500,000 bond.

Trial

Charges and indictment

Hodge faced charges of murder, felonious assault, and felony child endangering.

She was indicted nine days after police found her daughter A’nana Brantley dead in an upstairs bedroom on September 6, 2011.

The indictment stated she “recklessly abused” the child and caused her death “as a proximate result of committing or attempting to commit a first or second degree felonious assault or child endangering.”

Trial start and opening statements

The trial of Joy Hodge began on Tuesday, December 11, 2012.

Opening statements were made and witnesses were being called to testify.

Evidence and witness testimony

A video of Hodge being interviewed by Detective Wayne Mackey was played for the jury.

During the questioning timeline, it was described that during a time frame—1:30 a.m. to 5:30 a.m.—Hodge arrived home after leaving the child alone to go with friends to a local bar for a night of karaoke.

Hodge insisted during trial that she did not kill her youngest of four children.

Hodge said she came home sometime between 12:30 a.m. and 3 a.m.

Hodge claimed she gave A’nana a sippy cup at 8:30 a.m. and found the child dead five hours later; Germaniuk discounted this based on the stiffness of the child’s body and pooling of blood.

As slides of the autopsy were shown, Hodge looked away from the slide screen and stared at the floor instead.

The child’s father, David Brantley, testified that he got a call from Hodge shortly after midnight, wanting him to come back, and that he did not go.

Brantley also testified that about 2:30 a.m. he received another call from Hodge saying she was taking A’nana to the hospital with an ear infection.

Brantley testified that when he called the next day, the girl’s body had already been discovered.

Admissions to striking and polygraph expert questioning

Hodge admitted to a private investigator who helped with the case more than a week after questioning by Mackey that she “popped” or struck the child, and that admission triggered her arrest.

William Evans, a private investigator and polygraph expert from Akron, testified while prosecutors played audio recordings of Hodge from September 15, 2011.

Hodge was recorded saying: “I popped her one on the leg,” and admitting to punishment on the mouth.

Hodge told Evans that her youngest daughter upset her by biting her near the collarbone, and that she also got into the cleaner or detergent kept under the kitchen sink.

Hodge also continued telling Evans that it had to be someone else who actually killed young A'nana Brantley.

At one point, Hodge tried to convince Evans that someone with a key to her home most likely entered the house and stole banana pudding she had made for a Labor Day party and then killed the child.

In the audio tape, Evans told Hodge: “What caused you to lose it? Was it the Long Island iced tea? What triggered it?”

Hodge cried and wailed: “I don't want to go to jail. I didn't do it. No. No.”

Hodge also cried: “Why am I going to jail for something I didn't do?”

Evans told Hodge on the recording: “I think this might have been something that got out of control.”

Evans told her: “If I'm guilty of anything, it's going out.”

Evans said: “There is a difference between accidental and intentional. I don't think you meant to kill anyone. I think you convinced yourself you didn't do it,”

During the audio recordings, Hodge said: “If I'm guilty of anything, it's going out.”

Sentencing

Joy Hodge was sentenced Wednesday morning on February 20, 2012, by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Wyatt McKay.

The sentence was 15 years to life in prison.

Hodge was convicted in December on charges of murder, child endangering and felonious assault in the September 2011 beating death of 15-month-old A’nana Brantley.

She would be eligible for parole after 15 years behind bars.

After release, she would be on probation for three years.

Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Diane Barber said Hodge did kill her daughter and stated: “Twelve people heard the case and unanimously found her guilty of everything she was charged with,” and also said: “It took the entire detective division to unravel it cause we were being misled by the convicted individual here, several different directions. She would tell us one thing and then tell us something else so it really took all of us to straighten out and come to the conclusion, which was that she did this,” in connection with trial proceedings.

Defense attorneys planned to appeal the sentence.

Appeals

Hodge’s attorneys were planning to appeal the sentence.

Outcome

A Trumbull County jury found Joy Hodge guilty of murdering her daughter after deliberating for about 90 minutes, and the jury found her guilty of everything she was charged with.

Aftermath

A narrative describing the child’s father David Brantley’s statements indicated that he was not mad at Hodge and “still loves her,” and that “there is nothing I am happy or can celebrate about” because “both of these people just got taken away from me.”

Hodge remained in Trumbull County Jail since her arrest.

Other details

Hodge was described as 28 years old in one account and 29 years old in other accounts.

The child was found dead in her second-floor crib on Transylvania Street S.E. on Sept. 6, 2011.

The child was found in an upstairs bedroom at the Transylvania Avenue S.E. home where she lived with Hodge.

Hodge was scheduled to have trial testimony continue, with the trial being before a jury of nine men and three women.

A private investigator and polygraph expert from Akron, William Evans, worked with Warren police detectives in questioning Hodge as a suspect nine days after the death.

At the end of an interview that lasted more than an hour, Evans told Hodge that police would be arresting her.

Judge W. Wyatt McKay was hearing the case.

Timeline

• September 6, 2011 — A’nana Brantley was found dead in an upstairs bedroom / second-floor crib on Transylvania Street S.E. / Transylvania Avenue S.E.
• September 15, 2011 — Audio recordings of Hodge were played to the jury
• September 16, 2011 — Joy Hodge was arrested just before 4:30 p.m. on a charge of felonious assault in connection with the death
• September 20, 2011 — Hodge remained in Trumbull County Jail since her arrest (as referenced by “more than a week after questioning” and “remained in Trumbull County Jail since”)
• December 11, 2012 — Trial began
• December 14, 2012 — Jury found Joy Hodge guilty after deliberating for about 90 minutes
• February 20, 2012 — Joy Hodge was sentenced to 15 years to life in prison by Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Wyatt McKay