MEMPHIS, TN – Shelby County District Attorney Bill Gibbons announced Thursday that the state Grand Jury for Shelby County had indicted a Memphis man for the murder of an 11-month-old infant last October.
The Grand Jury indicted Jasper Hendrix, 21, for first degree murder in the perpetration of aggravated child abuse and two counts of aggravated child abuse.
According to the affidavit of complaint filed in this case, the victim, Makya Bogan, was transported from an apartment in the Berclair area to Le Bonheur Children’s Medical Center on October 28, 2007. The infant was unresponsive and according to a doctor suffered significant head trauma. Memphis police arrested Hendrix, the boyfriend of the victim’s mother, that same day and charged him with aggravated child abuse. Bogan later died from her injuries.
Hendrix is being held in the Shelby County Jail on $100,000 bond. At the time he was arrested, Hendrix was out of jail on a $10,000 bond for a separate, unrelated voluntary manslaughter charge. That case is still pending.
First degree murder is punishable by life in prison with the possibility of parole after 51 years, life in prison without parole, or death. First degree murder is a charge covered by the D.A.’s “No Deals” policy on violent crimes. Exceptions to the policy are made only for legal or ethical reasons.
Aggravated child abuse is a class A felony when the child is less than six years old. The standard sentence for a class A felony is 15 – 25 years in prison.
This case is being handled by prosecutors assigned to the Child Protection Investigation Team, which approves all charges of child sexual and severe physical abuse.
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