2011-01-04 Robert Babcock

Robert Monroe Babcock caused the death of his four-year-old son, Chance Mark Jones, in January 2011.

January 4, 2011 Date of the offense

Babock was a single man who learned he was a parent in August 2010. The child's mother was using methamphetamine and was neglecting the child.

On December 1, 2010, Babcock, 38, was given emergency custody of the child by Child Protective Serivces.

According to Babcock, the first time he hit the child was on Christmas Eve 2010. From that point forward, he hit the child daily as punishment for lying to him, urinating on the floor or hitting Babcock,

On January 4, 2011, at around 9:40 a.m., paramedics were called to the home because the child was unresponsive. He was covered with bruises on his face, neck, hands, abdomen, chest, lower lumbar, buttocks, and genitals.

Donley County Sheriff Butch Blackburn said the boy's father called 911 to report his son was injured. No one else lived at Babcock's home at 12750 County Road W. southeast of Clarendon, Blackburn said.

"It appeared the boy had had blunt force trauma to the head and also had bruising on his torso," he said.

Blackburn said emergency officials flew Chance by LifeStar helicopter to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo. The boy never regained consciousness and died the next day. An autopsy showed that the cause of death was complications from blunt force injuries to the head.

Interviews with law enforcement

Babcock was interviewed three different times by law enforcement.

In the interviews, he admitted to shoving the child back into the wall which had a hole in it and punching him in the head five to ten times.

He was also the child's primary caregiver and the only one living in the house with the child at the time. Additionally, medical evidence indicated that the child's injuries were not accidental and that he suffered from extensive bruising.

January 4, 2011 The first interview

Babcock voluntarily accompanied Sheriff Charles Blackburn to his office on January 4 after his son had been transported to the hospital.

Although Babcock rode in the sheriff's vehicle, he was not in hand restraints. The sheriff testified that Babcock

1. was not under arrest but he was the primary suspect,
2. had been read his Miranda warnings both at his house and prior to the interview in the sheriff's office,
3. signed a written waiver of those rights,
4. was not promised anything or threatened,
5. did not appear to be emotionally distraught,
6. never asked to terminate the interview,
7. never requested an attorney, and
8. was not denied food, water, or cigarettes.

The interview lasted two and one-half hours. At the end of the interview, he was arrested.

January 5, 2011 The second interview

The second interview took place on January 5 and was conducted by Texas Rangers Jamie Downs and Jay Fisher in the sheriff's office.

Before the interview started, Babcock was informed that his son had died, was again read his Miranda rights, and again indicated that he understood them.

He did not appear to be under the influence of drugs or alcohol and displayed a generally calm demeanor. That interview lasted two hours.

Ranger Downs had been told by Babcock's mother prior to the interview that Babcock had been injured in a serious car accident years earlier which could have diminished his capacity. Nonetheless, Babcock was considered to be lucid when interviewed and capable of providing appropriate answers to questions.

January 8, 2011 The third interview

The third interview took place at appellant's request on January 8 and lasted one and one-half hours. Ranger Downs and Sheriff Blackburn conducted that interview. Babcock was read his rights for a fourth time and agreed again to speak to the officers. The interview was described as non-confrontational.

June 2, 2012 Trial

The trial for Babcock was held in Memphis, located in Hall County.

Hall County jurors heard a recorded interview in which Robert Monroe Babcock described shoving his 4-year-old son shortly before the child became unresponsive and later died.^[1]

Babcock, 39, was charged with capital murder in the January 2011 death of Chance Mark Jones. Prosecutors alleged the boy’s extensive injuries were caused by an out-of-control father.

Chance died at Northwest Texas Hospital on January 5, 2011, one day after paramedics were called to Babcock’s rural Donley County home. The child had fresh and older bruises across his body, including severe bruising to his torso and genitals.

Babcock had learned he was a father only four months before and was given custody December 1, 2010. During the two-hour interview with Texas Rangers, Babcock said he was unprepared for fatherhood and had sought assistance from Child Protective Services but did not receive the help he believed he needed.

Babcock said Chance had behavioral problems that may have resulted from an unstable childhood. He told investigators that CPS officials attributed the custody change partly to the boy’s mother’s methamphetamine use.

Babcock acknowledged striking Chance on previous occasions, including hitting him in the stomach with an open hand. However, he denied knowing what caused the child’s most severe bruising.

Investigators focused on what happened shortly before Babcock called 911 on January 4. Babcock said he became angry after Chance urinated on the bathroom carpet. After returning to the child’s bedroom, Babcock shoved Chance in the chest, causing him to strike his head against a wall.

According to Babcock, Chance was not bleeding or crying after the impact. The boy stood up, said he wanted to go to bed and was left alone for about 30 minutes. When Babcock returned, he found Chance in bed “looking like he was dead” and called for help.

Investigators found a dent in the wall measuring approximately five inches long and three inches wide. Texas Ranger John Foster testified that Babcock admitted his actions but minimized the amount of force he used.

Kenneth Leitch, a West Texas A&M University civil engineering professor, conducted an impact analysis using objects that approximated Chance’s weight and the construction of the damaged wall. Leitch testified that the impact was stronger than what would normally be expected in a padded sports collision.

Leitch said the head injury alone would have been moderate and potentially survivable, indicating that Chance’s other injuries were also significant to the investigation.

Jurors heard Babcock cry during the recorded interview when Rangers informed him that his son had died. Testimony in the capital murder trial was scheduled to continue the following week.

June 7, 2013

Following a week of testimony, the six-man, six-woman jury deliberated for approximately one hour before returning its verdict. District Judge Stuart Messer sentenced the 39-year-old father to life in prison without the possibility of parole.^[2]

Prosecutors said Babcock subjected Chance to repeated physical abuse during an 11-day period in December 2010. The abuse culminated on January 4, 2011, when the child was taken to Northwest Texas Hospital in Amarillo for emergency brain surgery. Chance died the following day.

Medical witnesses testified that Chance’s eyes were blackened and swollen shut, a large lump had formed on his forehead and more than 100 bruises, cuts and scrapes covered his body. Some of the injuries were recent, while others were older.

Jurors were shown photographs of the severely injured child as he remained on life support and breathed through a ventilator.

Babcock had only recently received custody of Chance after learning in 2010 that he was the child’s father. During interviews with investigators, Babcock admitted striking and shoving the boy but disputed the extent of his responsibility for Chance’s injuries.

Prosecutors urged jurors to convict Babcock of capital murder, a charge that carried an automatic life-without-parole sentence because the victim was a young child. Jurors were also permitted to consider lesser charges, including felony murder and manslaughter.

Defense attorney Dale Rabe argued that Babcock’s conduct was reckless rather than intentional. He presented testimony that a serious 1993 vehicle crash caused Babcock to suffer a brain injury that affected his behavior and left him prone to aggressive outbursts. The defense also said Babcock had unsuccessfully sought help from relatives and Child Protective Services while struggling to raise Chance.

The jury rejected the defense’s arguments and found Babcock guilty of the most serious charge.

Several jurors cried as Chance’s former caregivers delivered victim-impact statements. Heather Hill, who cared for the boy for two years, described him as a loving child with a memorable smile and said Chance’s sister continued to ask when he would return.

Addressing Babcock, Hill said Chance immediately called him “Daddy” and thrived on love and affection, but Babcock would be remembered as his killer rather than his father.