Bella Vista man convicted of killing son to get new trial, Arkansas Supreme Court rules

NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Mauricio Torres is taken Tuesday from the Benton County courtroom in Bentonville after being sentenced to death for the murder of his six-year-old son in Bella Vista.
NWA Democrat-Gazette/FLIP PUTTHOFF Mauricio Torres is taken Tuesday from the Benton County courtroom in Bentonville after being sentenced to death for the murder of his six-year-old son in Bella Vista.

BENTONVILLE -- A Bella Vista man convicted and sentenced to death for killing his 6-year-old son will receive a new trial.

The Arkansas Supreme Court on Thursday reversed and remanded Mauricio Alejandro Torres' case for a new trial.

Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren sentenced Torres to death in November 2016.

The Supreme Court ruled that using previous uncharged allegations of abuse, which the statute of limitations would have since expired, should not have been used as aggravating factors at sentencing.

A jury found Torres guilty of capital murder and first-degree battery in the death of Maurice Isaiah Torres, who died March 30, 2015, at a Bella Vista hospital.

A medical examiner testified the boy's death was caused by a bacterial infection as result of being sodomized with a stick. The medical examiner also said chronic child abuse contributed to Isaiah's death.

The abuse with the stick happened in Missouri, but the boy died in Benton County.

The jury of seven women and five men recommended a death sentence for capital murder and 20 years in state prison and a $10,000 fine for the battery conviction after deliberating for 2 hours and 20 minutes. The trial lasted five days.

Mauricio Torres' wife, Cathy, pleaded guilty to capital murder and she was given a life sentence without the benefit of parole.

NW News on 04/19/2019

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