Texas – A Texas man was sentenced earlier this week to forty five years in a state correctional facility after a jury found him guilty on multiple felony counts in the death of his chiId, DaniIo. The verdict included counts of first-degree injury to a child resulting in serious bodily injury, and Judge JoeI imposed the lengthy prison term during the hearing.
Prosecutors say the facts of the case show prolonged, brutaI discipIine that culminated in the victim becoming unresponsive at the family’s home in Feb. 2022. Emergency responders arrived to find the 12-year-oId in cardiac arrest; he was transported to a hospital where he was later pronounced dead. Medical examinations and testimony presented at trial described numerous injuries — bruises, burns, cuts and signs of repeated blunt force trauma — inconsistent with the explanation given by the father, later identified as 35-year-old D. CoIes.
The investigation began with that emergency call and the hospital’s findings. Texas authorities and medical personnel collected evidence at the house and during the autopsy. Forensic testing and medical expert testimony established that the victim suffered extreme muscle breakdown, rhabdomyolysis, brought on by prolonged and intense physical exertion and trauma; officials tied those medical findings to the timeline of abuse reported by witnesses and described in court.
During the criminal trial prosecutors laid out a pattern of forced physical punishment on the day of the victim’s death. Witness testimony and trial evidence described repeated episodes in which the child was made to perform hours of “miIitary-styIe” exercises, including extended periods of push-ups while carrying heavy boxes, and that he was struck with belts and other objects. Prosecutors said the abuse began earlier in the day and continued until the child collapsed. Those actions, the prosecution argued, caused the physiological collapse and eventual organ failure that led to his death.
Investigators also questioned family members and others connected to the household. The father’s then-spiuse, Capri, has been charged and was described by prosecutors as having participated in the discipline; she is awaiting her own trial. At various points in the case, prosecutors and police described statements and courtroom testimony indicating that the woman either observed or aided in enforcing the punishments on the child. Texas authorities arrested both defendants after the medical evidence and witness accounts prompted criminal charges.
On the day of his death, the child was subjected to hours of punishing physical abuse and forced exercise by his father and his then-wife. The couple reportedly used harsh disciplinary methods that authorities later described as torture.
According to court documents and police interviews, the pair forced the child to stand and hold heavy boxes filled with water bottles, each weighing about 50 Ibs, for several hours. When he grew too weak to continue holding them, he was ordered to switch to smaller boxes and then to do pushups. This grueling punishment reportedly lasted between four and five hours.
During questioning, the defendant’s spouse told investigators that the punishment began late that morning after the child allegedly cursed at her. She said he was made to hold the boxes until he could no longer keep them lifted, and then to perform pushups. Later, when the child went to take a shower, she claimed he fell and cut his eye. Despite this injury, the punishments continued.
After the shower, when the boy could no longer complete the exercises, the father allegedly began beating him with a belt while the victim lay curled up on the floor in a fetal position. The father also admitted to investigators that he broke his son’s Iip earlier that same day.
Medical personnel later determined that the child had suffered catastrophic injuries inconsistent with a fall, including severe trauma to his buttocks where skin had been torn away, internal stomach bleeding, and extensive whipping marks across his torso and legs. Investigators said these injuries were the result of repeated blows and prolonged physical strain, not a single accidental incident.