A 34-year-old mother from Wisconsin has been arrested in connection with the death of her 3-year-old son, who was allegedly battered so badly that his injuries demonstrated a “complete and utter disregard for human life.”
Zaquitta Joiner-Murphy was arrested last week and charged with one count of child negligence resulting in death for the violent slaying of Da’Quarius Berry, according to court records.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Joiner-Murphy contacted 911 shortly before 7 a.m. on Thursday, Nov. 6, to request medical assistance for her 3-year-old son at her residence on the 3200 block of North 29th Street. Joiner-Murphy told detectives she went home from leaving off her four other children at the school bus stop to discover the victim “unresponsive and not breathing.”
Joiner-Murphy stated she left the house shortly after 6:30 a.m. to take the victim’s siblings to the bus and was gone for only approximately 10 minutes. In an interview with police, the mother stated that she discovered her kid “lying on his back and foaming from his mouth.”
“[Joiner-Murphy] stated that [Da’Quarius] had no injuries or other medical history since he was born that would lead to his condition when she arrived back at the residence,” according to the lawsuit.
Da’Quarius was brought to the Children’s Wisconsin Emergency Department for treatment. Doctors attempted lifesaving measures for nearly an hour but were unable to resuscitate the boy, who died at 8:41 a.m., according to the document.
“Medical staff located a large hemorrhage in [Da’Quarius’] abdomen that would have been caused by non-accidental trauma,” according to the confession. “The injuries sustained by [Da’Quarius] shows that the actor acted with complete and utter disregard for human life.”
In an interview with police, Joiner-Murphy stated that the victim awoke at around 5:45 a.m. and was “acting normal and running around” the family home. She claimed she left the victim with her partner while she drove the school-aged children to the bus. The boyfriend was still in the house when she returned, and her son was unresponsive and “lifeless,” according to the affidavit.
In addition to her boyfriend, Joiner-Murphy stated that a female acquaintance named “Peaches,” who resided in the flat upstairs, would occasionally check on the five children while she was working at night. Joiner-Murphy stated that she had worked the previous evening (November 5), and that Peaches had checked on the children.
However, when questioned by authorities, Peaches stated that she had been living with her grandma from November 5 to November 7. The grandmother eventually corroborated the dates with police and presented detectives with home camera footage indicating that her granddaughter was at her house.
“[Peaches] was not responsible for watching the Defendant’s children during the evening of Nov. 5, into the morning of Nov. 6,” according to the documents.
During a follow-up interview, investigators said Joiner-Murphy modified some of her statement. She allegedly stated that on the night of November 5, she and her boyfriend stayed at her house until around midnight before “leaving the five children home alone” to go purchase dinner. They briefly returned home before leaving again around 1:30 a.m. to go to “Kickbacks,” where Joiner-Murphy tended the bar until around 5:30 a.m.
“The Defendant confirmed that ‘Peaches’ was not home during this time and the Defendant left her five children home alone,” police reported.
Joiner-Murphy claimed that when she walked the kids to the bus on November 6, her partner was sleeping in the bedroom. She then went to the store and returned to discover [Da’Quarius] sleeping on the sofa. Joiner-Murphy stated that after a shower, she proceeded to change the victim, only to discover that his “body was limp” and his mouth was “filled with a foamy mucus.” That’s when she yelled and her boyfriend dialed 911.
“The investigation into the circumstances surrounding the death of [Da’Quarius] are ongoing,” according to police. “As of the filing of this complaint, the Defendant was one of two suspects who had the potential to inflict blunt force injuries to [Da’Quarius’] abdomen. Furthermore, the Milwaukee Police Department’s investigation revealed that the Defendant left her five children home alone from around midnight on November 5, 2025, until 5:45 AM on November 6, 2025.”
Joiner-Murphy is presently being held at the Milwaukee County Jail on a $50,000 cash-only bond, according to documents. She is set to appear in court for a preliminary hearing on November 21.
