2019-10-01
An Arizona father has been arrested for first-degree murder after he allegedly killed his son while trying to perform an exorcism on him.
Pablo Martinez, a 31-year-old man in the Pascua Yaqui tribe in Tucson , allegedly poured hot water down the 6-year-old boy’s throat to “cast out the demon,” according to court documents obtained by KVOA.
Martinez’s wife, the boy’s adopted mother, called 911 after she saw him holding the child under the faucet in the bathtub for five to 10 minutes after he “noticed that the hot water was casting out the demon.”
He told police that he “saw something evil” in his son after the boy had an “unnatural fit of rage.”
The 6-year-old was transported to Banner University Medical Center where he died shortly after, according to KVOA.
The boy had burns on 15% of his body, including his forearms, elbows and head.