- On Thursday, Elizabeth Archibeque, an Arizona mother who admitted to killing her 6-year-old son by malnutrition, was given a life sentence without the chance of parole.
- When Elizabeth Archibeque decided to plead guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse in the 2020 death of Deshaun Martinez, her attorney requested that her sentence include the possibility of release after 35 years. Judge Ted Reed of the Coconino Superior Court, however, stated that despite her sincere declaration of regret, her “heinous, cruel, and depraved behavior” called for incarceration for “the rest of your natural life.”
- Anthony Martinez, the boy’s father, and Ann Martinez, the boy’s grandmother, were both charged with murder and child abuse; both Martinezes have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting separate trials. Archibeque was also charged with these crimes.
- Deshaun Martinez, who weighed only 18 pounds (8.1 kilograms), perished from extreme hunger, according to an autopsy. On March 2, 2020, Ann Martinez contacted 911 to report that she believed her grandson had passed away. The caller stated that he was unresponsive.
- The boy’s parents at first blamed a medical problem and taking diet or caffeinated tablets for their son’s malnutrition. They eventually admitted to the authorities that they had been starving him and his older brother and had confined them in a closet for 16 hours every day. Brother is still alive.
- According to investigators, the youngsters were imprisoned as retribution for stealing food while their parents slept. In the apartment where they all resided, their two sisters, ages 4 and 2, were discovered to be in good health.
- The Flagstaff Police detective Melissa Seay said in her testimony at the sentencing hearing on Thursday, that when she looked inside the boys’ bedroom’s tiny closet on the day Deshaun’s body was discovered there, she discovered an orange piece of plastic on the floor and a “foul, nasty smell of urine.”
- ‘I have never seen something so horrific in all my life,’ Seay said. She said Deshaun was just bones. His face was completely sunken in. It was just like a skeleton,’ Seay said. She said his brother didn’t fare much better. His bones were protruding from his back. I could see his ribs, she said.
- On Thursday, Elizabeth Archibeque, an Arizona mother who admitted to killing her 6-year-old son by malnutrition, was given a life sentence without the chance of parole.
- When Elizabeth Archibeque decided to plead guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse in the 2020 death of Deshaun Martinez, her attorney requested that her sentence include the possibility of release after 35 years. Judge Ted Reed of the Coconino Superior Court, however, stated that despite her sincere declaration of regret, her “heinous, cruel, and depraved behavior” called for incarceration for “the rest of your natural life.”
- Anthony Martinez, the boy’s father, and Ann Martinez, the boy’s grandmother, were both charged with murder and child abuse; both Martinezes have pleaded not guilty and are awaiting separate trials. Archibeque was also charged with these crimes.
- Deshaun Martinez, who weighed only 18 pounds (8.1 kilograms), perished from extreme hunger, according to an autopsy. On March 2, 2020, Ann Martinez contacted 911 to report that she believed her grandson had passed away. The caller stated that he was unresponsive.
- The boy’s parents at first blamed a medical problem and taking diet or caffeinated tablets for their son’s malnutrition. They eventually admitted to the authorities that they had been starving him and his older brother and had confined them in a closet for 16 hours every day. Brother is still alive.
- According to investigators, the youngsters were imprisoned as retribution for stealing food while their parents slept. In the apartment where they all resided, their two sisters, ages 4 and 2, were discovered to be in good health.
- The Flagstaff Police detective Melissa Seay said in her testimony at the sentencing hearing on Thursday, that when she looked inside the boys’ bedroom’s tiny closet on the day Deshaun’s body was discovered there, she discovered an orange piece of plastic on the floor and a “foul, nasty smell of urine.”
- ‘I have never seen something so horrific in all my life,’ Seay said. She said Deshaun was just bones. His face was completely sunken in. It was just like a skeleton,’ Seay said. She said his brother didn’t fare much better. His bones were protruding from his back. I could see his ribs, she said.
