Motions hearing set in Bella Vista murder case

File Photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette Cathy Lynn Torres, 43, is brought into the Bella Vista Police Department on April 6, 2015, by Sgt. Clayton Roberts. She was arrested on warrants charging her with capital murder, rape and battery in the first degree in the death of a 6-year-old boy.
File Photo/NWA Democrat-Gazette Cathy Lynn Torres, 43, is brought into the Bella Vista Police Department on April 6, 2015, by Sgt. Clayton Roberts. She was arrested on warrants charging her with capital murder, rape and battery in the first degree in the death of a 6-year-old boy.

BENTONVILLE -- A Bella Vista woman accused of killing her son is set to be in court in March, and her trial could start in May.

Cathy Lynn Torres, 45, is charged with capital murder and first-degree battery. She pleaded not guilty to the charges. She's being held without bond in the Benton County Jail. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty.

Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren on Tuesday scheduled a hearing for 9 a.m. March 31. Torres' jury trial is scheduled to begin May 5.

Maurice Isaiah Torres, 6, died March 30, 2015, at a Bella Vista hospital. A medical examiner said the boy's death was caused by a bacterial infection as a result of being sodomized with a stick. The medical examiner also said chronic abuse contributed to his death.

Torres' husband, Mauricio Torres, 46, has been sentenced to death in the case. He was found guilty of capital murder and first-degree battery.

The jury last year watched and listened to a video recording of Mauricio Torres as he confessed to putting a stick in his son's rectum. An older sister of Maurice Torres described during the trial several instances where Mauricio Torres abused her brother.

NW News on 01/18/2017

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