Mauricio Torres-The Father Who Sodomized His Son With A Wooden Stick

Mauricio Torres, of Bella Vista, was found guilty of Capital Murder and First degree battery at a retrial after having being convicted for the rape and murder of his 6-year-old son, Maurice Isaiah Torres in 2015. He could be sentenced to death.

Mauricio Torres is accused of inserting a stick into the rectum of his 6-year-old son, the wound got infected that resulted to the boy's death.

Torres said at the previous trial, which took place in early 2020, that he awoke to find his wife unhappy with Isaiah after he plundered the refrigerator and ate some cake.

Torres claimed he punished Isaiah by making him perform squats while holding a rod in his rectum. He said that his wife and one of his daughters were hitting Isaiah as he was doing squats.

Torres claimed his wife told Isaiah to move faster, causing him to lose his balance and fall on the stick.

Kathy Torres, Torres's wife, is currently serving life in prison for her son's death after accepting a plea agreement that required her to testify against Torres; nevertheless, she claims she was unaware of the extent of her husband's alleged abuse against the youngster.

Dr. Stephen Erickson, an Arkansas Crime Laboratory medical examiner, briefed jurors about Isaiah's injuries on Tuesday. He testified that Isaiah died as a result of anal rectal trauma, which produced the infection that led to his death. He stated that prolonged child abuse was an issue because Isaiah had various injuries to his body.

According to Erickson, Isaiah would have survived the injuries if he had received timely medical attention.

According to police, Torres murdered his son, Maurice Torres, on March 30, 2015, after he was beaten and sexually tortured with a stick while camping in Missouri. The incident allegedly left the youngster with an infected wound that eventually killed him.

Torres was also accused of pulling the boy's teeth with pliers, forcing him to bathe in bleach, and beating him with a stick, according to prosecutors.

Torres was found guilty by a jury and sentenced to death in his first trial in 2016, after five of his children and stepchildren accused him of years of physical and sexual abuse. Nevertheless, the Arkansas Supreme Court overruled that decision because prosecutors did not provide enough evidence to justify the death penalty.

Torres' daughter also testified against her father. The teen revealed the horrific abuse her younger brother endured at the hands of their biological parents.

Isaiah was treated differently

• He ate his meal of beans and rice at least twice a week while facing the wall; the girls ate different food

• He slept in a locked dog cage

• She was told to bite his ankle if he tried to get out of the cage

• Lived in a trash can in the house for about a month

• Forced to eat excrement, from their pet cat or drink the dad’s urine

• Beat him with shoes, cables, sticks

• Yanked his teeth out with pliers

The child told jurors she was told to beat her brother and did so because if she did not she feared getting punished.

She said the happiest she had seen her little brother was in 2014 when he stayed at a Little Rock hospital and was being treated for (chemical) burns. “He had a bed and food,” she said.

Mauricio was sentenced to death in 2016. However, the verdict was overturned on appeal.

Torres was found guilty for the second time in March 2020, but during the sentence, his adult stepson lunged at Torres after being asked if he, too, had been sexually abused by his stepfather. A mistrial was declared by the circuit court.

On February 9, 2023, his third and last trial began. The trial lasted one week, with final arguments wrapping up about 11 a.m. on February 16.