Felon Accused of Fatally Beating His Grandmother
RIVERSIDE (CNS) – Prosecution testimony got underway last Wednesday in the trial of a convicted felon accused of fatally beating his 83-year-old grandmother during an argument at her Menifee home, where he had been taken in after being paroled from state prison.
Andrew Daniel Joseph, 45, is charged with murder, elder abuse and sentence-enhancing allegations of inflicting great bodily injury on a person over 70 years old and misusing a position of trust for the 2020 death of Ethel Mae Hayes.
Riverside County Superior Court Judge Matthew Perantoni seated a jury Tuesday to hear the case, after which the prosecution made its opening statement, and the defense reserved its opening to another day. Jurors returned to the Riverside Hall of Justice on Wednesday, when the prosecution’s first round of witnesses took the stand.
Joseph is being held in lieu of $1 million bail at the Byrd Detention Center in Murrieta.
According to a trial brief filed by the Riverside County District Attorney’s Office, on the afternoon of Sept. 18, 2020, Joseph was alone with his grandmother in her and her husband’s single-story residence in the 26000 block of Ridgemoor Drive, near Menifee Road, when an unspecified verbal dispute erupted.
The brief alleged that Joseph confided to one of his cousins later the same day that “Ethel had `spazzed out’ on him, and he, in response, `went off’ on her.”
“The defendant did not describe exactly what he did to his grandmother,” court papers stated. “He claimed that he blacked out and could not remember what happened.”
Evidence collected at the scene later indicated Joseph had slammed Hayes’ face and head into a cabinet and possibly a wall several times, according to the brief.
The gravely injured senior managed to walk to a neighbor’s house and ring the doorbell. Although the neighbor wasn’t home, she activated her “ring” front porch camera via her mobile phone and spoke directly to Hayes, who had blood on her face and visible swelling around her eyes, the prosecution said.
“She said she had been assaulted by her grandson, `Andrew,’ repeating several times that her grandson had attacked her,” the brief recounted.
The victim collapsed unconscious on the porch, and the neighbor called 911. Hayes was taken to Riverside University Medical Center in Moreno Valley, where she succumbed to the blunt force trauma injuries two days later.
Joseph went to his sister’s house in Hemet, where Menifee police officers located him and arrested him the day of the alleged assault.
His cousin, Harry Fouse, told detectives that “Joseph is a `mental patient’ … explaining the defendant has episodes where he becomes violent and screams,” according to the brief.
“Those bouts are shortly followed by him staring straight ahead and appearing calm,” the narrative said.
Joseph was initially booked into jail for assault and elder abuse, but later charged with murder after his grandmother’s death.
“Ethel passed away due to severe head injuries inflicted by her grandson,” the woman’s nephew, Steven Lloyd, wrote in a letter to the court during the summer, after a trial date was confirmed. “Her … life was cut short in a manner that is both heartbreaking and incomprehensible. Ethel was a source of immense love and support for those around her. She was a victim of a senseless and violent act by someone who should have been a source of support and care. We hope for a resolution that acknowledges … the profound loss experienced by us, her loved ones.”
Joseph could face life in prison if convicted.
Court records show he has a prior conviction for assault with a deadly weapon resulting in great bodily injury, which had been reduced from attempted murder. He served more than 10 years behind bars.
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