BENTONVILLE -- It took a jury less than an hour to find a Bella Vista man guilty of killing his 6-year-old son.
About the case
Mauricio Torres, 45, faces a death senternce or life imprisonment after being found guilty of capital murder on Monday. He faces from five to 20 years in prison for the first-degree battery conviction.
Source: Staff report
Mauricio Torres, 45, was found guilty Monday of capital murder and first-degree battery. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty. The boy's mother, Cathy Torres, 44, also is charged with capital murder and first-degree battery in the case. Her trial is scheduled for May.
The jury of seven women and five men found Mauricio Torres responsible for the death of Maurice Isaiah Torres. The boy died March 30, 2015. A medical examiner testified that the boy's death was caused by a bacterial infection as a result of being raped with a stick. The medical examiner said chronic child abuse also contributed to the boy's death.
The jury began deliberations at 12:20 p.m. Monday and reached its verdict shortly after 1 p.m.
Torres did not show any reaction after hearing the jury's decision.
Jeff Rosenzweig, one of Torres' attorneys, requested that the jury be polled. Each juror stood and confirmed the verdict to Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren.
"This rape was a sadistic act of sexual torture," Nathan Smith, Benton County's prosecuting attorney, said in his closing arguments.
Smith told jurors that Torres, an occupational therapist assistant, had medical knowledge and was aware that "shoving that stick up the rectum of a 6-year-old child" could kill him.
Correction
Mauricio Torres of Bella Vista, who was convicted Monday of capital murder in the death of his 6-year-old son, worked as an occupational therapist assistant. His job title was incorrect in a previous version of this story.
Bill James, another of Torres' attorneys, told jurors in his closing arguments that Torres never intended to kill his son and that the stick was used for punishment and not for sexual purposes.
Sentencing proceedings began after the verdict was announced.
During those proceedings, a 21-year-old woman told jurors that Torres in the past had not only physically abused her, but also sexually abused her. "He beat me because I gave a key chain to a friend," she said as she stared at Torres. "Not only did you beat me..."
Stuart Cearley, chief deputy prosecutor, interrupted her as she began to speak to the defendant.
Torres shook his head as the witness described the abuse to the jury. It was one of the few times Torres reacted to the testimony during the trial.
The woman described Torres beating her with different objects.
At one point, she stopped talking while on the witness stand and stared in his direction. She cried throughout her testimony and held toy putty in her hand as she talked about the abuse.
"[Were] there times [Torres] made you and [a male child] do things to each other?" Cearley asked.
She nodded her head and said, "Yes."
The woman said Torres sexually abused her and that he made her watch pornography and then forced her to do some of the things in the films. She said he sometimes would also punish her for watching pornography.
Three other people testified that they were physically abused by Torres, and two said he had also sexually abused them.
One of them -- a 17-year-old girl -- testified that Torres had sexually abused her when she was 3 and 4 years old.
A former stepson, Nicholas Martin, testified that Torres beat him with a belt, a wire hanger and his fist. "It happened on a regular basis," Martin said.
Martin, 22, said Torres knocked out his two front teeth when he was a child and also made him fight with his brother for Torres' entertainment. "Whoever lost, pardon my language, would have to be the other's b***h for the day," he said.
Martin testified that he never reported the abuse to authorities and denied the abuse happened when he was questioned by workers with the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
Torres' defense team will begin to present its sentencing case today. His father and uncle are two witnesses the defense is scheduled to call to testify.
A Section on 11/15/2016