Tupelo man pleads to lesser charge in child death case, avoids death penalty
Aug. 21—TUPELO — A Tupelo man will spend the next 45 years in prison after pleading guilty Sunday afternoon to the 2019 death of a 6-year-old boy he was babysitting.
Joshua Lewis Oakley, 31, of Arlington Street, Tupelo, was facing the death penalty on Monday, Aug. 22, when his capital murder trial was scheduled to begin. All that changed on Saturday when a witness came forward with additional information against Oakley.
"We had been working this for four weeks, and we were ready to go to trial," District Attorney John Weddle said. "The eve of trial witness probably influenced the decision to enter the plea and not take his chances with a jury."
Sunday afternoon, Oakley stood before Lee County Circuit Court Judge Kelly Mims and pleaded guilty to the reduced charges of second degree murder and child neglect in the death of Camden Blair, 6.
The judge then sentenced Oakley to the maximum penalties for both charges — 40 years for the child's death and another 5 years for not seeking immediate medical treatment. The sentences will be served consecutively.
"I don't known what happened that night, but I know no 6-year-old deserves what this child endured," Judge Mims said.
Oakley was babysitting his girlfriend's son on Nov. 12, 2019. According to court testimony, the child suffered severe burns in his bathwater. Oakley then waited around eight hours before carrying the boy to the North Mississippi Medical Center emergency room at 5:30 the next morning with life-threatening injuries. He was quickly transported to Le Bonheur Children's Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee, and later sent to the Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock, which has a burn unit.
Oakley was arrested on Nov. 13, 2019, and charged with child abuse. When the Parkway Elementary School first-grader died 17 days later, the charge was upgraded to capital murder.
Oakley has remained incarcerated in the Lee County Jail without bond ever since.
Pulaski County (Arkansas) Coroner Gerone Q. Hobbs said the preliminary autopsy identified signs of other trauma that were consistent with Blair being beaten.
"The child had all the injuries associated with the burns. There were also pre-existing and healing rib fractures," Weddle said. "We had no way to connect Oakley to those injuries until the witness came forward."
The state had put a plea agreement on the table months ago, but Oakley's defense team refused the offer. That changed on Saturday afternoon when Weddle relayed the new information. A plea hearing was then scheduled for Sunday afternoon.
"The purpose of our recommendation was to keep him in prison for the rest of his life," Weddle said. "And 45 years day for day is effectively a life sentence in this case."
Assistant District Attorney David Daniels, who was set to prosecute the case, said Blair's family was informed of the plea deal and was on board with the recommendation.
When given a chance, Oakley, a 31-year-old single father of four (ages 3, 7, 11 and 12) briefly addressed the court.
"I want to apologize to the victim's family, and to my family as well, for putting them in the situation we are in today," Oakley said.
As part of the sentencing, Judge Mims ordered that Oakley be immediately transferred to the Mississippi Department of Corrections and be transported to a state prison as soon as possible.
