A 6-year-old boy who died in east Alabama last week was beaten to death, according to court records.
Jessie Taylor McCormack died Friday at Children’s of Alabama in Birmingham. His father, 29-year-old Joshua D. Clark is charged with capital murder.
New-released court records state Jessie was “beaten by a belt or belt like object and hands.”
Jessie’s younger brother, 18-month-old Enzo McCormack, died in 2019. The boys’ mother, Samantha McCormack, and her boyfriend, Robert Elmore, are charged with capital murder out of Blount County in Enzo’s death.
Authorities at the time of Enzo’s death noted that Jessie also showed signs of abuse back then, including bruises under his ears and his chin, and a skull fracture similar to the one that contributed to his baby brother’s death.
Enzo’s twin sister is now the only surviving sibling.
The Calhoun County School system is raising money for headstones for both brothers.
Last Wednesday, Anniston police officers were called to Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center on a child abuse case, said Lt. Tim Suits.
They arrived to find the medical staffing treating the unconscious Jessie.
The boy was transferred to Children’s of Alabama with critical injuries. Clark, his father, was interviewed by detectives and charged with aggravated child abuse.
Jessie died on Friday. At that point, authorities obtained the capital murder warrant.
Under Aniah’s Law, Clark is being held without bond at the Calhoun County Jail.
Jessie was in the custody of his father at the time of his death.
Clark and McCormack married in 2018, and separated just two months later, court records show.
They had three children together, first Jessie, who was born in April 2016, and the Enzo and his twin sister, who were born in 2018, four months before their parents got married.
Enzo died Sept. 9, 2019, at Children’s of Alabama. His death came three days after he was gravely injured.
McCormack and her boyfriend, Elmore, were both charged with capital murder following Enzo’s death.
They have remained in the Blount County Jail since their 2019 arrests.
The charging documents reflect a number of conflicting stories told by McCormack and Elmore as to how the boy was critically injured.
Sheriff’s Investigator Edward Hull wrote in documents he interviewed McCormack, who told authorities she was home with the children while they were eating, and she went into the other room to use the bathroom.
It was then, she said, she heard something fall and returned to the children to find the 18-month-old was choking and had fallen. She told lawmen she cleared his mouth and he quit choking. That was about 5:40 p.m.
A little while later, she said, she noticed he wasn’t doing well so she bathed him and decided to take him to the hospital. S
he waited until her grandmother came from Oneonta to take care of the other kids – the victim’s twin sister and Jessie, who was three at the time.
She then drove to the hardware store. While waiting in line to pay for gas, she told a worker her son was hurt and that he’d fallen at home. The worker went to the car and saw the boy was limp. She called 911.
While first responders were waiting for the air transport to arrive, Elmore Jr. and his parents, as well as the victim’s two siblings, showed up at the scene saying he had received a message from McCormack that the boy was ill.
Elmore told investigators he had gone to McCormack’s grandmother’s house to pick up the other two children. When questioned further, however, he couldn’t provide deputies with the grandmother’s address or telephone number.
Deputies went to the home where McCormack said the fall happened only to find out that McCormack didn’t live there and hadn’t been there, records state. It was then, the investigator noted in records, that McCormack admitted she lived with Elmore on Lanningham Road in Cleveland.
Investigators went there to hold the scene.
The Department of Human Resources was also summoned to check on the well-being of the victim’s twin and their older brother.
Hull, the investigator, learned the boy had been wrapped in a Hunt Brother’s pizza bag when he had arrived at the store, and then the hospital. He also learned the siblings were being brought to the hospital to be examined for possible abuse.
Samantha McCormack and Robert Elmore Jr.
Samantha McCormack and Robert Elmore Jr.
He noted in the charging documents that Elmore told several stories about the events of that day. He first denied hurting the boy, and then said basically that he accidentally dropped him while he was getting him out of a play pen.
Once he realized the boy was hurt, he said, he messaged McCormack who said to wait for her to get home from work. He said he was keeping the kids because he had lost his job several months ago.
Meanwhile, doctors determined the boy’s twin sister had no injuries, but said the 3-year-old brother – Jessie – also had bruises behind his ears and under his chin and had a skull fracture similar to his little brother’s. Elmore denied hurting the 3-year-old.
McCormack and Elmore were interviewed multiple times. Eventually, according to records, McCormack admitted she had lied about where she was living and with whom.
Deputies learned the child had been removed from McCormack’s custody on Oct. 16, 2018.
A protection from abuse was obtained by McCormack against Elmore in March of 2019 and the children were returned to McCormack on June 17, 2019.
Hull noted in the 2019 documents the following injuries for the Enzo – head trauma, closed head trauma, brain injury, hypoxic ischemic encephalopathy, multiple retinal hemorrhages and multiple contusions to the head and body.
The boy, the record stated, was a “victim of a severe battering and shaking injury. There has been no plausible accidental injury to explain his many injuries. So this is physical abuse. It would take an adult sized person to pick him up and cause these injuries. If the history is accurate, the only adults at home were mother and mother’s boyfriend. He would have been symptomatic immediately after sustaining the injuries and would not appear normal to anyone who was observing him.”
Hull interviewed Elmore again and that is when Elmore indicated he had picked up the boy who then grabbed his chest hairs. “He lost his temper,’’ the investigator wrote.
He said he let go of the boy, who hit the play pen and then the floor. Elmore said he then picked him up and shook him because he was unresponsive.
Jessie was released from the hospital, and both he and Enzo’s twin were placed in DHR custody.
It wasn’t until after Enzo’s death and the arrests of McCormack and Elmore that Clark filed for divorce from McCormack. Ultimately, Clark got custody of Jessie and Enzo’s twin sister.
Enzo’s twin sister is now back in DHR custody.
A hearing date for Clark has not yet been announced. Court records do not list an attorney to comment on his behalf.
McCormack and Elmore are set to go to trial later this year in Enzo’s death.
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