Investigators said Marquise Anderson gave changing explanations before medical findings classified 9-year-old Joanna Shoulder’s death as a homicide.

FORT WORTH, Texas — A four-month investigation into the death of a 9-year-old Fort Worth girl shifted from an emergency medical call to a capital murder case after an autopsy found injuries that police said did not match her father’s explanations.

Marquise Anderson, 35, is charged with capital murder of a child younger than 10 in the death of his daughter, Joanna Shoulder. Officers found Joanna unresponsive inside a home in the 1900 block of Daniel Street early Feb. 8, according to police reports and an arrest affidavit described by local news organizations. She was taken to Cook Children’s Medical Center, where she was pronounced dead. Hospital staff documented extensive bruising, prompting homicide detectives to begin examining what happened before the emergency call.

The case did not result in an immediate arrest. Investigators interviewed Anderson and another adult who had been in the home, reviewed medical findings and waited for the Tarrant County Medical Examiner’s Office to complete its work. The final autopsy, received by investigators in June, determined that Joanna died from multiple blunt-force injuries and classified the death as a homicide. Police arrested Anderson on June 23, more than four months after his daughter died. The arrest affidavit portrays the autopsy as the turning point in the investigation. Anderson initially told officers that Joanna had wet the bed twice and that he placed her in a bathtub to clean herself, according to accounts of the document. He said she later became ill, vomited and fell or struck her head in the bathroom. Police said he offered more than one explanation for how she could have suffered injuries to her head.

As detectives continued questioning him, Anderson acknowledged physically disciplining Joanna, the affidavit said. He first described striking her with his hand and later said he used a belt after deciding that spanking her was not enough. Investigators said he told them he struck the child several times after believing that she had smirked at him. The belt was described in the affidavit as having a metal buckle. Those statements are allegations contained in police records and have not been proven in court.

Anderson also told investigators that Joanna remained in the bathtub for an extended period after the alleged punishment, according to the affidavit. He said she became sleepy and thirsty, felt hot and began slurring her speech. He reportedly told detectives that she later collapsed and vomited. A woman who was in the house said Anderson woke her and told her the child had become sick while bathing. She was performing CPR when emergency responders arrived.

Medical findings documented in the affidavit sharply changed the focus of the case. Examiners found numerous bruises on Joanna’s torso, back, legs and sides, including injuries described as having patterns consistent with repeated impacts. The autopsy also identified blunt-force injuries to her head and neck, bleeding beneath her scalp and bleeding near her spinal canal. WFAA reported that medical staff counted about 30 injuries on her torso and lower body and that the medical examiner found bleeding on both sides of her brain. Fort Worth police spokesperson Buddy Calzada said the evidence exposed discrepancies between Anderson’s account and the child’s injuries. The medical examination, he said, did not support the explanation that Joanna’s condition resulted from a single fall in the bathtub. Detectives therefore treated the death as a suspected homicide rather than an unexplained medical emergency or household accident.

The affidavit also describes what investigators learned about Joanna’s condition before she entered the home that weekend. Her biological mother told police that the girl did not have a serious medical problem that would explain her sudden collapse and that she was able to bathe independently. Witnesses described her as functioning normally before the incident. The Texas Department of Family and Protective Services later confirmed to WFAA that the agency had prior history involving Joanna’s family, but it declined to release further details.

Joanna’s maternal uncle, Brandon Shoulder, said the expression Anderson interpreted as a smirk was not an act of defiance. He told WFAA that part of the girl’s face had been paralyzed since birth, affecting how her expressions could appear. Shoulder described his niece as kind and imaginative, saying she believed in unicorns and dreamed of becoming an astronaut. His comments offered a different picture of Joanna from the alleged disciplinary dispute described in court records.

The family spent months waiting for the medical examiner’s findings and an arrest. Shoulder said relatives wanted the public to know Joanna for her personality and ambitions, not only for the allegations surrounding her death. He said she was a bright child whose teachers cared about her and who spoke of pursuing several demanding careers. The family’s public statements have focused both on seeking accountability and preserving a fuller memory of the girl.

Under Texas law, the intentional killing of a child younger than 10 can support a capital murder charge. The charge is the most serious homicide accusation available under state law, but it does not establish guilt. Prosecutors would have to prove every element of the offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Publicly available reports did not identify a plea from Anderson or establish whether prosecutors intend to seek the death penalty. No trial date had been announced in the reports reviewed for this article.

The affidavit reflects only the prosecution’s account of the evidence collected during the investigation. Defense attorneys may challenge Anderson’s statements, the interpretation of medical evidence, the circumstances of the police interviews or other portions of the case. It also remained unclear from the available records whether Anderson had retained an attorney who could comment publicly on his behalf.

Several questions remain unresolved, including precisely when Joanna’s most serious injuries occurred, how long her symptoms continued before 911 was called and what other evidence prosecutors may present. Authorities have not publicly released the complete autopsy or the full investigative file. The woman who was in the home has not been publicly accused of causing the fatal injuries in the sources reviewed. County jail records listed Anderson as being held at the Tarrant County Corrections Center when checked for this report. His case will proceed through the county’s criminal court system, where prosecutors must obtain and sustain formal charges before any trial. Anderson is presumed innocent unless proved guilty in court.

Author note: Last updated July 23, 2026.