BENTONVILLE – Prosecutors started to present their case Friday on why they believe a jury should recommend Mauricio Alejandro Torres be executed for killing his 6-year-old son.
The same jury found Torres, 53, guilty of capital murder and battery Thursday in the death of Maurice Isaiah Torres. Isaiah died from an infection caused when a stick was shoved in his rectum.
Torres could be sentenced to life imprisonment without the benefit of parole or the death penalty for the murder conviction. Prosecutors are seeking the death penalty.
Torres faces from five to 20 years in prison for the battery conviction.
Isaiah was pronounced dead March 30, 2015, at a Bella Vista medical facility.
Torres said in a police interview he put the stick in his son's rectum, but later testified his son was holding the stick while doing squats. Torres said Isaiah fell on the stick and it went inside his rectum.
Torres admitted he physically abused his son, but claimed his wife was responsible for most of the abuse delivered to Isaiah.
Cathy Torres, 51, previously pleaded guilty to capital murder and battery. She was sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
A daughter of Cathy Torres told jurors she stopped living with her mother in Jonesboro when she was 4 years old. Her mother was in a relationship with Mauricio Torres. She described being sexually abused by Torres. She didn't remember how old she was at the time, but knew she lived with her mother.
The woman said she told her aunt about the abuse. Mauricio Torres was never arrested in connection with the allegations.
She denied ever being coached to make the accusations against Torres.
"Are you confident in these memories?" Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith asked.
"Yes, they haunt me," she replied.
A grown son of Mauricio Torres testified he lived in the same house with his father in California and Arkansas until he was 7 or 8 years old.
"Did you suffer any physical abuse from the hands of Mauricio Torres,?" Smith asked.
The man said his father hit, kicked and threw him around. He said his father would use hangers and hit him with a railing from a bed.
"I remember one time being kicked real hard, and I threw up," he said, crying. "I had to eat my throw up."
Smith wanted to know whether Mauricio Torres ever had any sexual contact with him.
He said his father touched him in sexually inappropriate ways when they lived in California. He said the sexual abuse continued when the family moved to Arkansas. He said he remembers his father engaging in sex acts with him.
Jeff Rosenzweig, one of Torres' attorney, asked the man if he ever reported the abuse to anyone.
He said his father would sometimes makes him hit his sister and sometimes he would make him pick her punishment.
The son said he was in counseling and told a counselor about the physical abuse, but not the sexual abuse.
A grown daughter of Torres testified and described being abused by her father. She said she was 9 years old when she stopped living with her father.
She also testified her father physically abused her. She remembered her father hitting her with his hands, sandals, hangers, cords and a belt.
"It was with anything that was near or handy," she said.
She said the abuse was daily when they lived in California and Arkansas. She testified her father also sexually abused her numerous times. He also forced her to be abusive toward her brother.
"Who made you do that?" Smith asked.
"Mauricio," she responded.
The woman said she was afraid and never told anyone about the abuse.
Prosecutors rested their case after her testimony.
The defense called Edgar Torres, who is Mauricio Torres' father.
Edgar Torres testified his son came to the United States as a child from El Salvador. He said he obtained custody of Mauricio when the was 2 months old. He said Mauricio Torres never had any contact with his mother. He said he was 18 years old when his son was born and treated him like a younger brother.
Edgar Torres said he may have disciplined his son once or twice with a belt and mainly used exercise to discipline his son. Torres' father said he now feels it may have been extreme the way he used exercise to punish his son.
Mario Torres, Mauricio Torres' uncle, testified for the defense. He said exercise was used as a punishment for his nephew.
Shari Reed was married to Mario Torres. She described Mauricio Torres as a quiet, sad and obedient child. "He didn't seem to be very happy," she said. "He sought out affection from myself and women in the family."
She described Mauricio Torres as loved starved and told jurors she witnessed him being forced to do 50 or more squats at a time. She said he was being punished for not following a direction quickly enough. She also testified she saw him being hit with a belt to the point he was left with bruises.
Mauricio Torres was also called fat and lazy by family members, Reed said.
Reed said she observed domestic abuse in the Torres' home when he was growing up.
Death penalty sought