Local Man, 42, Serving Life Sentence, Dies in Prison
Billy Joel Polasek, the La Grange man convicted for the 2016 murder of seven-monthold Logan Atkins, died in prison by his own hand on Saturday, April 5, according to the Texas Department of Criminal Justice (TDCJ).
Polasek was serving a life sentence at the Jim Ferguson Unit, a state prison in Madison County. He was sentenced at trial in Fayette County District Court on Feb. 23, 2022. At the time, prosecutors said Polasek would have to serve at least 30 years before becoming eligible for parole.
A custodial death report filed by TDCJ stated that on April 5, “Inmate Polasek was discovered unresponsive. Life saving measures were initiated and EMS was called to the scene. Life saving measures were ultimately unsuccessful.”
The TDCJ report stated that Polasek used a shoe string to hang himself. The time of death was listed at 7:03 p.m. He was 42 years old.
At the time of Atkins’ death, the child’s mother testified that she and Polasek had a history of using methamphetamine together. The mother had left Polasek’s residence with Logan in Polasek’s care. Polasek told investigators after the death that he was giving Logan a bath in a water trough when some type of injury happened. The day was July 4, 2016. Polasek loaded the unresponsive child into his vehicle and rushed to St. Mark’s Hospital. A state trooper pulled him over for speeding on SH 159 near Texas One Stop. Atkins was taken to St. Mark’s but he ultimately succumbed.
Local authorities launched an investigation that ultimately led to murder charges against Polasek. At one point in 2019, prosecutors offered Polasek a deal for 10 years in prison if he pleaded guilty to injury to a child. Polasek rejected the deal and caused a commotion in court by attempting to jump out of the second-story window in the district courtroom while professing his innocence.
During the sentencing phase of the trial, any sympathy the jurors may have shown vanished as they learned about Polasek’s history of drug use and risky behavior around his own children. They deliberated for about an hour before delivering the life sentence.
“For all the kids in the world, don’t use drugs,” Polasek told the Record as sheriff’s deputies escorted him out of the Courthouse that day.