After his 6-year-old boy was found starving to death and held in a closet with his sibling for 16 hours a day for over a month as a punishment for stealing food while his parents slept, the Arizona father was given a life term in jail.
Anthony Martinez, 28, was found guilty on Friday of killing, abusing a child, and kidnapping his son Deshaun Martinez and his elder brother.
According to The Arizona Daily Sun, the mother who took in the surviving youngster and the two other kids from the parents provided an emotional victim impact statement.
“A father is the protector, provider, teacher and the first role model in life. I am eternally saddened, Anthony, that you threw away the gift and privilege of fatherhood,” she stated. “So much has been taken from these children, yet pieces of who they are can never be broken. As their adoptive mother, I recognize the beauty of their natural gifts. I am here to tell you how special and unique these children are.”
Excerpted from a letter written by the defendant, the lawyer expressed regret and said, “I wish that I could take it all back and do things the right way and protect you from all of this.”
In May, Anthony Martinez was found guilty. Elizabeth Archibeque, the boy’s mother, was found guilty in 2017 and given a life sentence without the chance of release. According to local affiliate KTVK, the boy’s grandmother was also accused in the case and entered a guilty plea last week to counts of attempted child abuse and manslaughter.
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Deshaun’s little body was found at the Martinez residence in March 2020. His autopsy found that he had starved to death and that his body was nearly entirely covered in cuts and scrapes, giving him a “skeletal appearance.”
According to investigators, the boy’s parents acknowledged that they fed him very little and imprisoned him and his older brother in a closet for up to 16 hours every day. After a few weeks in the hospital due to malnourishment, the seven-year-old older child made a full recovery.
Before giving Archibeque a life sentence, the judge chastised her. He referred to her son’s abuse as “heinous, cruel, and depraved behavior.” Officers detailed the boy’s horrifying condition.
During the mother’s sentencing trial, Flagstaff Police Detective Melissa Seay testified, saying, “I have never seen something so horrific in my life.” All he was was bones. His expression was utterly consumed. It resembled a skeleton.
