KILLER Grandparents and uncle ‘tortured and beat boy to death’ before body was found in living room

Horror at home grandparents and uncle of 12-year-old boy have been charged with murder, after “beating and torturing him to death”.

James Sasser JR, and Patricia Batts were arrested along with their 14-year-old son, after police found Alex Hurley dead in the living room of their home early this month.

Police had found video evidence that Hurley had been abused in the home, where he lived with his grandparents and their children, including their 14-year-old son, Hurley’s uncle, who cant be named for legal reasons.

The young boy had been sent to live with his grandparents by his mother following the death of his late father in 2018.

Court heard how Batts said: “I fell asleep while watching the Super Bowl and woke up to find the pair squabbling.”

She said she then found Hurley’s body on the floor of her living room on February 3.

The family went on to say that Hurley suffered mental health problems, could hear voices and was suicidal, however no evidence was found to support these claims.

An autopsy concluded that Hurley’s cause of death had been blunt force trauma to the back of the head.

A criminal complaint said that detectives watched videos of his family seemingly torturing Hurley, forcing him to do prolonged physical exercises and stand in front of a fan wearing only his underwear.

They also discovered that the doors of units in which food was stored in the home had been locked away to stop Hurley from accessing it.

All the suspects have been charged and face life in prison if convicted.