BENTONVILLE — A jury on Thursday found Mauricio Torres guilty of killing his 6-year-old son.
Torres, 53, of Bella Vista was found guilty of capital murder and battery. He could be sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole or the death penalty.
The sentencing portion of the trial begins Friday.
Torres was accused of shoving a stick in his son’s rectum, causing an infection that led to the boy’s death. Maurice Isaiah Torres was pronounced dead March 30, 2015, at a Bella Vista medical facility.
The jury heard testimony for four days. Attorneys gave their closing statements Thursday morning. The jury began deliberating at 11:11 a.m. Thursday and returned with its verdict about four hours later.
It’s the third time a jury has found Torres guilty of murder.
Torres, who is being held without bond in the Benton County jail, was tried, convicted and sentenced to death in 2016 in his son’s murder, but the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2019 and ordered Torres be given a new trial.
A second jury found Torres guilty of murder and battery. The proceedings ended during the sentencing phase March 5, 2020, when a witness jumped from the witness stand box and attempted to attack Torres. A Benton County sheriff’s deputy and a bailiff stopped the witness from reaching Torres. Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren declared a mistrial and ruled Torres should have another trial.
The Arkansas attorney general’s office appealed, but the Arkansas Supreme Court agreed with Karren.
Those called to testify the past week included Dr. Stephen Erickson, a medical examiner with the Arkansas Crime Laboratory. Erickson said Isaiah may have survived his injury if he had received immediate medical care. He listed chronic child abuse as a factor in Isaiah’s death and described to jurors the numerous bruises, wounds and scars over Isaiah’s body.
Mauricio Torres testified in his defense and admitted abusing his son, but claimed his wife, Cathy, was the main perpetrator of the abusive acts on Isaiah.
Torres described himself as a coward because he failed to protect Isaiah from his wife. He denied being responsible for the injury that led to their son’s death.
He told Capt. Tim Cook of the Bella Vista Police Department during a 2015 interview he put the stick in his son’s rectum, but told jurors when he testified this week that Isaiah was holding the stick and fell on it while he was doing squats.
Cathy Torres denied abusing her son, even though she pleaded guilty in 2017 to capital murder and battery and is serving a life sentence in a state prison. She denied any knowledge of the bruises that covered Isaiah’s body.
Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith described the crimes permitted against Isaiah by his parents as grotesque and ugly. Smith told the jury the crimes against Isaiah had names called capital murder and battery.
“You’ve seen these pictures to the point you will never forget them,” Smith told jurors in his closing statements. “I’m not going to make you look at them again.”
Smith said Isaiah suffered from chronic child abuse and reminded the jury of the testimony of Isaiah’s former teachers, who were alarmed by bruises on Isaiah and took photographs of the injuries.
Smith said Torres knowingly killed his son by shoving a stick up his rectum. Torres sat and shook his head in denial on different occasions as Smith told jurors about the abuse Torres inflicted on his son.
Smith said one problem with the case is that the facts are so terrible that it’s unbelievable. He told jurors the acts are corroborated by the testimony and evidence in the case.
He asked jurors to remember Isaiah’s 15-year-old sister describing the physical abuse her biological parents committed against Isaiah. She testified about Isaiah being forced to sleep in a cage, drink urine and eat feces. Smith held up a photo of the cage.
“If we didn’t have pictures, there is no way you could believe it,” Smith said about the case. “It is so horrible.”
Smith said Torres committed his final abusive act on Isaiah to humiliate him.
Bill James, one of Torres’ attorneys, asked jurors to take a deep breath and make a decision based on the law and not on conjecture and emotion.
“This is a very difficult case. It’s easy in a sense to check the box and say this is bad, this is ugly — guilty,” James said.
The law requires prosecutors prove a person knows an act will lead to almost certain death, James said. He asked the jury to hold prosecutors to that standard.
James again asked the jury to not make a decision based on emotions.
“Don’t do it because of pictures of a child that was absolutely abused,” James said.
James said the jury had to decide whether his client was aware his conduct was practically certain to cause Isaiah’s death.
Cathy Torres was with the children all the time and managed the money and the house, James said. He said his client worked 12 to 15 hours per day and left his wife alone with their children.
James said Mauricio Torres was not aware of the severity of Isaiah’s injury. James said Torres treated his son as if he had a stomach ache. James said his client attempted to save his son by performing CPR.
Cathy Torres denied seeing the injuries, James said. She did not testify that Mauricio Torres caused any of the injuries to their son, James said.
Claims that Torres forced his son to sleep in a cage and eat feces are not true, James said.
James said Cathy Torres was the controlling figure in the relationship with her husband and threatened to tell authorities Mauricio Torres was the one who abused their son. He asked the panel who did they think was in charge — Cathy Torres or his client.
“Look at that tortured soul over there,” James said as he pointed at Mauricio Torres. “When I say he’s a messed up unit, you saw it.”
James said there’s no evidence that his client was aware his son would die.
Smith had the last words before the jury left the courtroom to begin deliberations. He told jurors Torres knew what happened to his son with the stick and was lying about believing Isaiah died from a stomach ache.
“He chronically abused his son and at the end he shoved a stick up his rectum,” Smith said.
Smith said the defense was trying to emphasize Cathy Torres’ actions in the trial, but Smith said the trial was about her husband. Both Cathy and Mauricio are guilty of capital murder, Smith said.
Smith said it was ridiculous to believe Torres’ claims that Isaiah fell on the stick and it went into his rectum. He reminded the jury Torres admitted in a police interview he had put the stick in his son’s rectum once before.
Smith said Torres poured his malice and depravity onto his son for power and control. He urged the panel to find Torres guilty of the charges.