[Warning: Potentially Triggering Content]
This is one of the most disturbing cases we’ve ever heard…
An Arizona father is facing homicide charges after his son was discovered dead in an absolutely disgusting house, per legal docs obtained by KOLD reporter Mary Coleman. According to records Joseph Gregory Antonsen, 38, was charged with one count each of child abuse and negligent homicide after his 9-year-old boy was found dead — surrounded by spiders and filth.
Related: Arizona Dad Charged With Murder After KNOWINGLY Leaving Daughter In Hot Car
Per a July 14 press release from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, officers responded to a residence in the Tucson Mountain District where they found the young boy already deceased on the couch. Probable cause docs said the responding officers found him “in a sitting position” and “in the process of decomposition”. More disturbing details about the home revealed just how nasty it was — including the fact there was no running water or working toilet:
“Lots of empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotten foods, large amounts of one gallon bottles full of what appear to be urine … lots of insect activity … black widows and brown recluse [spiders, and] spiderwebs everywhere throughout the walls of the home.”
Awful! The idea this poor child lived and died in such a state…
Per the documents, Antonsen claimed his son fell ill on July 12 and he was planning to take him to a doctor — but then the boy started “shuttering and going limp” and then stopped breathing. Antonsen said after that he couldn’t find a pulse — but instead of calling 911, doing anything to try to save his son, he allegedly left the house for two days. Horrible, just horrible. How could a parent do this to their child?
He “declined” to speak with deputies further about it. Antonsen was arrested and put on a $500,000 bail. In the docs, responding law enforcement said:
“Based on the deplorable conditions of the home and Joseph failing to provide medical aid or calling 911 for [the child], probable cause exists to charge Joseph Antonsen for Child Abuse and Negligent Homicide.”
A neighbor spoke with the local outlet in which they described the boy as “really cute”:
“He was a really friendly kid. He was very polite. He was a lot friendlier than his dad.”
Heartbreaking. May the little one rest in peace.
If you have sincere cause to suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org.
[Image via Pima County Sheriff’s Department]
