Arizona police have issued a harrowing statement saying a nine-year-old boy was “beyond saving” after they found his neglected body in his father’s dilapidated home.
The grim incident unfolded last week in Tucson, where Joseph Gregory Antonsen, 38, was charged with child abuse and manslaughter after allegedly abandoning his son following a medical emergency.
When he was arrested on July 14, Antonsen told police that his son, whose name has not been released, had become seriously ill two days earlier, but that he had left when his son lost consciousness instead of calling for help.
In a recently released 911 call from KGUN9According to police, Antonsen said he found the boy “unconscious and not breathing.” They don’t think he can be saved.
A nine-year-old boy was found decomposing in a filthy Tucson, Arizona, home last week after police arrested the father for child abuse and manslaughter
Joseph Gregory Antonsen, 38, reportedly admitted to police that his son was having a medical emergency and that he knew he should call for help, but instead left the boy alone for two days
When police arrived at the dilapidated house, they found no running water and no working toilets.
The child’s body was found sitting upright on a couch surrounded by “empty beer cans, large piles of dirty diapers, rotten food, bottles full of what appeared to be urine, numerous insects and spiders,” Pima County police said.
Officials say poisonous black widows were found in the home, but it is not known whether the boy’s illness was the result of a bite.
According to investigators, Antonsen told them that when his son became ill, he began to shake and became “limp” before he stopped breathing.
When Antonsen couldn’t feel a pulse, he admitted he knew he should have called for help, but instead he left his son home alone for two days.
Antonsen didn’t call 911 until he returned. When investigators arrived, they found the boy had been “dead for quite some time,” reports COLD.
When police arrived at the dilapidated home, they found no running water or working toilets. The boy’s body was found surrounded by beer cans, dirty diapers, spoiled food and insects.
A neighbor told the newspaper that she had not seen the nine-year-old boy for a month before his death and that he had not gone out with his father as often in recent months.
“His son was really cute,” she said. “He was a very friendly kid … he was very police. He was much nicer than his father.”
The neighbor added that her daughter used to play with the boy and now she had to break the news of the tragedy to her daughter.
“She was always so excited to run up to them and hang out with them,” she said. “It took me hours to say, ‘You guys need to come inside now.'”
Another neighbor said he initially assumed the house was abandoned because he never saw anyone enter or leave the property.
After Antonsen’s arrest, police said he was considered a flight risk because he is completely dependent on his parents, who live in Panama.
He was held in custody on $500,000 bail, and had not yet posted bail at the time of writing.