Arizona Parents Charged With Murder After Child Confined To A Closet Dies

The mother, father and grandmother of a 6-year-old child in Arizona have been charged with child abuse and murder after they admitted to punishing the child by locking him in a closet with his 7-year-old brother, for “stealing food.”

According to NBC News, Anthony Jose Archibeque-Martinez, 23, Elizabeth Archibeque-Martinez, 26 and Ann Marie Martinez, 50, are all being held on one count of first-degree felony homicide and two counts each of child abuse.

On Monday, Flagstaff Police officers responded to a call about an unresponsive child. When officers arrived, they tried frantically to save the child, but he was pronounced dead at the scene.

During the initial investigation, the parents and grandmother admitted to police that the child and his brother had been kept in a closet most of the time and were hardly ever allowed out of the house, according to Bossip. The parents also admitted to denying the kids food. They claimed this form of “punishment” was inflicted on the children for about a month because “they were stealing food, by sneaking out at night when the parents slept.”

Officers noted that both children were so severely malnourished that neither looked their actual age. The surviving 7-year-old was hospitalized at Flagstaff Medical Center and is now in the custody of the Department of Child Safety.

Two other children who were found in the home, a 4-year-old and a 2-year-old, and were both placed in the custody of the Department of Child Safety as well. However, authorities claimed those two children were not malnourished, and the 4-year-old attended school regularly.

Police are now investigating by speaking with other family members and neighbors to find out what people knew beforehand in an effort to establish how long this abuse was taking place.