Fort Worth man beat his daughter to death with belt because she wet the bed: police
A man used a blue cloth belt with a metal buckle to thrash his 9-year-old daughter to death earlier this year at a house in Fort Worth, police alleged on Tuesday as they arrested him on suspicion of capital murder.
Joanna Shoulder received the beating as discipline for wetting her bed, according to a homicide detective’s account of his interview of the girl’s father described in an arrest warrant affidavit.
The beating left at least 30 bruises on Joanna’s torso, and a belt pattern was present among the injuries, according to the assessment of a pathologist described in the affidavit.
The father, Marquise Anderson, said Joanna wet the bed on two occasions on a night in February at the house in the 1900 block of Daniel Street.
Anderson, 35, said that after the second incident he physically disciplined Joanna and had her take a bath and “soak” for a while to get the urine off of her, Fort Worth Police Department Detective Jeremy Balders wrote in the affidavit.
Anderson’s timeline had the bath lasting for about three hours.
Anderson initially described the events surrounding Joanna’s collapse in a bathroom but did not mention hitting her with a belt, according to the affidavit.
After additional questioning, Anderson said he struck Joanna approximately five to six times with his hand on her buttocks, Detective Balders wrote.
Anderson then said he struck Joanna about six to seven times with a blue cloth belt because Joanna smirked at him, and he believed the discipline was not effective.
The little girl died early on the morning of Feb. 8 in the emergency room at Cook Children’s Medical Center, according to the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office. A pathologist documented extensive blunt force trauma throughout Joanna’s body.
Many of the injuries displayed rectangular, band-like and patterned characteristics consistent with impact from a belt-like object, Detective Balders wrote.
The pathologist documented extensive bruising and hemorrhage involving Joanna’s abdomen, flanks, back, buttocks, thighs and lower extremities, according to the affidavit.
The autopsy revealed blunt force injuries to Joanna’s head and neck.
The pathologist concluded that Joanna died as a result of blunt force injuries and that her death was a homicide.
In an obituary, Joanna’s relatives described her as “a beacon of light in this world” and “a funny, loving, talented, and compassionate soul.”
“Her laughter echoed through our home, her love filled our hearts, and her talent was a glimpse of a bright future that was not meant to be,” the obituary states. “Despite her tender age, she showed a remarkable compassion that was beyond her years, always sharing, always caring. Her dream was to become an astronaut, a testament to her boundless curiosity and adventurous spirit.”
This story was originally published June 24, 2026 at 3:49 PM.
