Montana boy beaten to death by family seen being hit on buttocks, hosed with water in torture videos
GALLATIN COUNTY, MONTANA: New text messages and videos obtained by investigators show how a 12-year-old Montana boy who was beaten to death was tortured -- emotionally and physically -- in the preceding months. MEA WorldWide (MEAWW) previously reported that grandparents James Sasser Jr. and Patricia Batts, as well as 14-year-old uncle James Sasser III, were arrested in connection to the disturbing death of James 'Alex' Hurley.
Hurley was found dead on the living room floor of his grandparents' Montana home on February 3 after he spent the night mumbling and moaning in pain. Nobody sought medical help for the boy, who had bruising all over his body and died from trauma to the head.
Hurley had been sent to Montana by his mother to live with his father. According to a criminal complaint from the Gallatin County Attorney's Office, Hurley's mother lives in Texas. His father had died in 2018 and so he ended up living with his grandparents and uncle, the complaint revealed.
The 12-year-old had reportedly been kicked in the head several times by Sasser III, who is six-feet-tall and weighs 300 pounds, in the 24 to 36 hours before his death, though his misery dates much farther back.
In a text message, Hurley's 18-year-old aunt Madison texted her boyfriend that the boy could "go die in the woods" and said he was "a piece of (crap) off of my f**king shoe."
Investigators have also found multiple videos of the 12-year-old being tortured by the family before his death.
A December 12, 2019, video from Batts' phone shows the boy doing forced jumping jacks while holding his buttocks and crying to go to the bathroom as his grandmother mocks him.
Several videos show him being forced to sit against the wall or door to the garage in a squat position, while in a Jan 10, 2020 video, a larger male hits him with a piece of wood as he screams about committing suicide.
In another disturbing punishment meted out on January 27, 2020, Hurley was made to sit half-naked in front of fans and was sprayed with water. Batts is said to have commented, 'that’s what they do with cats, right?'
In a similar Jan 17 video, Batts tells him, "Oh, you’re not even a human, you’re some kind of thing." The family has tried to lay the blame for Hurley's death on the 12-year-old himself and claimed he had been "increasingly problematic" since his father died two years ago following an ATV accident that left him paralyzed.
Batts claimed the young boy was stealing from stores, his family, and drinking alcohol. She also claimed she had to pull him out of school because he had gotten into trouble for groping a girl, an allegation that West Yellowstone school superintendent Kevin Flanagan said he did not know about.
The rest of the accused similarly said Hurley was problematic and violent. Describing his behavior as "erratic," they said he was self-harming and had tried to hurt himself and others on several occasions, and revealed he had complained of hearing voices telling him to kill people. The grandparents said they documented the boy's actions on video in order to prove he needed help to behavioral specialists.
Sasser Jr. has been charged with deliberate homicide while Batts has been charged with criminal child endangerment, aggravated kidnapping, and strangulation of a partner or family member and faces the death penalty if convicted.
Gage Roush, 18, a family acquaintance, has also been arrested in connection to Hurley's death and has been charged with felony assault on a minor. As per court documents, Roush who is a family friend could be seen on cell phone footage beating up Hurley using a paddle.
Sasser III, who has been also charged with deliberate homicide has entered a not guilty plea in connection to his 12-year-old nephew's death, while Sasser Jr., Batts, and Roush are yet to enter their pleas.