Ex-probation officer accused of child abuse was foster parent; biological mom speaks out while DHR remains silent

May 9—Joddie Brooke King, a former Decatur field officer for the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles charged with eight counts of child abuse, is a 22-year law enforcement veteran who had been a foster parent with DHR for around 20 years, according to her attorney. The biological mother — formerly a probationer under King's supervision — of two of the allegedly abused children spoke out from prison Wednesday as DHR failed to respond to inquiries or even confirm that King was a foster parent.

"I thought they were having this great life and that I had done the right thing for my children," said Jonna McGuyre, 38. "I put them in the hands of a law enforcement officer. I thought they were completely safe and well-off."

McGuyre has a history of substance abuse. In March, she was sentenced to 35 years in prison for causing the death of Ramsey Williams by crashing her vehicle into his while under the influence of a controlled substance. She has four children and is currently incarcerated at the Cullman County Detention Facility.

Before that, McGuyre pleaded guilty in 2006 to 30 counts of breaking and entering a vehicle, court records show. She was sentenced to 10 years in prison, with eight of those years suspended, and five years of probation. She said King was her probation officer, and she was released from probation in 2014.

"While I was on probation, I failed a drug test, and she sent me to an in-house rehab," McGuyre said. "She decided to keep my oldest son for me, so DHR didn't get involved. She kept him for a couple of weeks, and then he started staying with a family in the church.

"In 2017, when I got on drugs and lost my children to DHR, none of my family could get them and their dad was on drugs," she said. "So, the only person in my mind I could think of to get my children was the one person who had got my child before."

McGuyre's oldest son went to live with her friend, Emily Woodall. McGuyre asked King to take her two younger children, a boy and a girl, but said that King initially declined.

"A couple of months later, I got paperwork in the mail saying she filed a motion to intervene, and she got both of my children," McGuyre said. The boy was 4 years old, the girl only 6 months.

McGuyre briefly regained custody of her children before she was charged in 2019 with manslaughter.

"She (King) told me if I didn't sign them over to her, then she was going to have to let them go back to DHR, because she didn't want to go through DHR stuff any longer," she said. "So, it kind of made me feel forced to sign them over to her.

"I didn't really want to do it, but I didn't want her to give them to another family, because they were already used to her."

McGuyre said she signed over custody of her two children to King on Jan. 8, 2021. She said DHR was involved in that process "the whole time."

"I would see pictures where they were at the beach," she said. "She (King) has a house in Dauphin Island, and she would take them there a lot. I was aware my daughter was in dance class. They went to Decatur Heritage Christian Academy."

Last October, King brought the children to visit her parents, who had been in a car accident, at Vanderbilt University Medical Center, according to McGuyre. The children were able to visit McGuyre's sister, who lived in the area.

McGuyre said the boy told her sister that King had been hurting him. McGuyre's sister recorded the testimony.

"She (King) was pinching my son's privates and wouldn't let go," McGuyre said, relating the allegations he had made. "She put him in a bath of cold water and held his head under the water. Dug her thumb into his throat so that he couldn't breathe, kind of choking him. Pulling his hair, screaming in his face, pushing him down."

McGuyre said her daughter claimed she was sprayed with mace while inside a closet. The daughter is now 6 years old; the boy is 8. Although McGuyre no longer has parental rights, she said investigators kept her informed, since they had to investigate how King had obtained custody of the children.

In addition to McGuyre's two children, King was also a single mother to two children of her own and four South American foster children, according to McGuyre. She said her family didn't initially tell her about the abuse allegations because they didn't want to worry her.

"I was asleep, and I dreamed that Joddie killed one of my kids," she said. "I woke up squalling and called my grandmother. She said, 'Jonna, since you dreamed that, I'm just going to tell you the boy told (your sister) that Joddie was hurting him when he was at her house in October.'"

Last Halloween, the two children went trick-or-treating with Woodall and their older brother. The boy told his older brother then that King "would throw him in ice water, cuss him and scratch him," according to Woodall.

"There was even worse abuse with his little sister," Woodall said. "I don't want to go into too much of that, but you can imagine the unfathomable."

Woodall said the older brother reported the allegations to his therapist in early November, while the younger brother reported it to his teachers.

The Morgan County Sheriff's Office on Wednesday said they were not involved in the investigation, only the arrest. DHR initiated the abuse investigation. The Decatur Daily asked DHR when they began their investigation, and they did not respond.

"When his little sister and little brother told (the oldest) all this, we still had to take the kids back over there (to King's residence)," Woodall said. "And I had to stay extremely calm and keep (the oldest) calm, because what was revealed to us was extremely upsetting. We had to stay quiet this whole time until now."

Woodall said she believes the children were taken from King in February. DHR did not respond to inquiries regarding when the children were removed from King's care. — Pardons and Paroles

King was hired by the Alabama Bureau of Pardons and Paroles in September 2009, according to a spokesman. She was placed on mandatory leave on Feb. 28 and terminated on Monday.

Morgan County District Attorney Scott Anderson has recused himself from King's case, as his office has worked with her for years. He said Limestone County DA Brian Jones has been appointed to prosecute the case. Jones did not respond to requests for comment.

King was booked into Morgan County Jail on Monday and released an hour and a half later on a $30,000 bond, jail records show. A grand jury indicted her on four counts of aggravated child abuse, a Class B felony, and four counts of willful abuse of a child, a Class C felony.

Court records show Circuit Judge Jennifer Howell initially set King's bond at $250,000. A court order issued Monday shows that King's bond was lowered to $30,000 after her attorney and "the District Attorney" both agreed to it.

"Joddie vehemently denies the allegations contained in the indictment," Eric Summerford, King's attorney, said. "All a grand jury gets to hear is whatever evidence the State has to present. They almost never hear what the defendant says. Joddie has a fine reputation as a 22.5-year law enforcement veteran, and this whole matter is very unfortunate. She has also been a foster mom with DHR for around 20 years."

Tuesday morning, The Decatur Daily asked Lainie Alexander, the director of Morgan County Department of Human Resources, to confirm that King had been a foster mom. The Daily received no response.

Wednesday morning, The Daily sent a text message inquiry to Alexander's cellphone and left a voicemail on her office phone. The Daily received no response.

After visiting Alexander's office (she wasn't there), she returned The Daily's calls and referred questions to Russell Sellers, the director of communications for Alabama DHR based in Montgomery. She said it was protocol.

"I'm going to need you to send that question to me in an email," Sellers said Wednesday.

The Daily sent an email to Sellers at 11:38 a.m. asking him to, at minimum, confirm that King had fostered children. He did not respond. The Daily called his office several times Wednesday afternoon, to no avail.

"I felt guilty," McGuyre said on learning of the abuse. "I felt like I'm the reason they had to go through that, because I made the decision to turn my rights over to her. I thought I was doing the right thing for them.

"And then I just cried and cried, because I can just imagine how my kids felt when they were going through that stuff, you know?"

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— david.gambino@decaturdaily.com or 256-340-2438.