Missouri father beats daughter, 6, to death with baseball bat, leads police to hidden body
ST JOSEPH, MISSOURI: A Missouri man accused of beating his six-year-old daughter to death using a baseball bat has been refused bail by the court. Dustin L Beechner allegedly killed Jozlyn Marie Beechner, and on Wednesday, September 7, Associate Circuit Judge Keith Marquart issued a decision saying he should be held without bond while citing his earlier two felony domestic assault convictions.
The judge also ordered the police to keep the suspect on suicide watch at the prison cell at the Buchanan County Jail, where he is currently being held. This comes after Friday, September 2, when St Joseph Police arrived at a Buchanan County house at 3217½ Mitchell Avenue after receiving a call about Dustin, who was apparently behaving strangely at round 6:30 in the morning.
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It has also been said that it was the 37-year-old accused himself took law enforcement officials to the body of his daughter whom he allegedly beat to death mercilessly. Reports said the detectives discovered the little one’s remains under a white sheet kept on the roof of the house. As per prosecutors, the child was struck viciously with an aluminum baseball bat by her father. He was slapped with child abuse resulting in death charge.
News-Press Now reported that Dustin “was still on probation for the domestic violence charges when he allegedly killed his daughter.” The newspaper also stated that during his appearance before the court via a video link, he told Marquart, “I’ve been doing good for a year and a half in recovery. Some things have been going on in my life …” But he was interrupted by the judge, who made him realize that the prosecuting attorney was listening to everything and “that anything he said could be used against him in court.” Next bond review hearing for Dustin has reportedly been scheduled for September 14, a day before Jozlyn would have turned seven.
Meanwhile, in an opinion piece, News-Press Now said that “the news of 6-year-old Jozlyn Beechner’s death brings up plenty of difficult questions. How could something so terrible happen to someone so small and innocent? How was she put into this situation? Where were the adults and institutions that were supposed to intervene and help her? And, for St. Joseph, what can be done to keep this from happening?”
The essay, titled ‘As a society, we have to do more,’ went on to note that “the death of any child is an unparalleled tragedy. We won’t relive the particularly heart-wrenching details, nor are we interested in trying the case in the newspaper. It is in the hands of the courts now,” before stating, “Unfortunately, it is not the first time. The Annie E. Casey Foundation’s Kids Count Data Center put the number of substantiated child abuse or neglect cases in Buchanan County at 75 for 2019.”
“This always raises the question of whether the numbers reflect a true measure of the problem or if instances of abuse and neglect are being underreported. The statistics provide perspective but shouldn’t be allowed to sterilize such a human tragedy. Going forward, it’s important to reflect on a life that was way too short and a little girl who should be enjoying the first grade and celebrating a birthday this week. A strong turnout for upcoming public events in her honor would be a fitting and appropriate tribute,” it added.