Arizona police hauntingly declared that a nine-year-old boy was ‘beyond help’ after finding his neglected body in his father’s squalid home.
The grim episode unfolded last week in Tucson, where Joseph Gregory Antonsen, 38, was charged with child abuse and negligent homicide after allegedly abandoning his son following a medical emergency.
When he was arrested on July 14, Antonsen reportedly told police that his son, who has not been named, became violently ill two days before, but he left when his son passed out instead of calling for help.
In a newly released 911 call from KGUN9, police said Antonsen told them he found the boy ‘unconscious, not breathing – they believe he is beyond help.’
A nine-year-old boy was found decomposing inside this squalid Tucson, Arizona home last week, as cops arrested the father on child abuse and negligent homicide
Joseph Gregory Antonsen, 38, allegedly admitted to police that his son suffered a medical emergency and he knew he should call for help, but instead abandoned the boy for two days
When police arrived at the ramshackle home, they reportedly found the property had no running water and no functioning toilets.
The child’s body was found sitting upright on a couch, surrounded by ’empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotten food, bottles full of what appears to be urine, lots of insect activity and spiders’, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
Officials added that poisonous black widow spiders were found in the home, although it is not known whether the boy’s illness was due to being bitten.
Investigators said Antonsen told them that when his son fell ill, he was shaking and ‘going limp’ before he stopped breathing.
After he couldn’t find a pulse, Antonsen allegedly admitted that he knew he should have called for help, but instead he left his son in the home for two days.
Antonsen only called 911 when he returned. When detectives arrived, they observed that the boy had been dead ‘for an extended period of time’, reports KOLD.
When police arrived at the ramshackle home, they reportedly found the property had no running water and no functioning toilets, and the boy’s body was found surrounded by beer cans, soiled diapers, rotten food and insects
A neighbor told the outlet that she had not seen the nine-year-old boy in about a month before his death, and observed that he did not go outside with his father as much in recent months.
‘His son was really cute,’ she said. ‘He was a really friendly kid… he was very police. He was a lot friendlier than his dad.’
The neighbor added that her daughter used to play with the boy, and said she had to now break the news to her daughter about the tragedy.
‘She would always be so excited to run across and go hang out with them,’ she said. ‘It would take me hours to be like, ‘You guys need to come inside now.”
Another neighbor said they had previously believed the home was abandoned because they never saw anyone coming or going from the property.
After Antonsen’s arrest, police said he was deemed a flight risk because he is solely dependent on his parents who live in Panama.
He was placed in custody on a $500,000 bond, and had not paid bail at the time of writing.