It is easy to picture a 6-year old boy running up and down full of life at the park, school, or home. Not in a cupboard starving. But residents of Arizona woke to the shocking news of the death of a six-year-old boy that died. He died in the care of his parents and grandmother. Both parents have been arrested for the murder. And so has the boy’s grandmother. Despite the law taking its course, the people of Arizona are still shaken when they remember that the boy starved in a cupboard. Believe it or not, Deshaun Martinez just weighed 18 pounds at the time of death. The little boy’s body was discovered in Flagstaff, Arizona, in his parent’s house. After being arrested, Martinez’s mother and grandmother had three charges to answer; child abuse, murder, and forcible confinement. On the other hand, the boy’s father had four charges to answer. Besides answering the same charges as the boy’s mother and grandmother, he was also charged with aggravated assault. The boy’s family pleaded not guilty to all the charges.
Deshaun Martinez’s autopsy was handled by Lawrence Czarnecki, a medical examiner and renowned expert in Pathologist and Forensic Pathology. According to Czarnecki, little Martinez was only left with his skin and bones. With no body fat left, the boy looked more like a skeleton. The forensic pathologist also discovered that the boy’s eyes had sunk into his skull, while his hair was broken. Some readers will find this hard to imagine, but Martinez also had wounds and bruises on his body. Moreover, the autopsy also found that the boy had suffered various urinary tract infections. It is worth noting that the boy had a history of problems gaining weight. And his parents might have known this yet continued keeping him in a state of constant malnutrition. Czarnecki also revealed that the boy’s age didn’t match his physical shape and appearance. The average weight of a 6-year-old boy is 45 pounds. As earlier mentioned, Martinez only weighed 18 pounds when Arizona law enforcement officials discovered him. The boy had initially managed to get to 33 pounds the previous year. His problems keeping weight resulted in his weight dropping to 26 pounds within a few months.
Before the news of the boy’s death went viral online, his grandmother called the police to report that her grandson was unconscious. This phone call was made on March 2nd, 2020. The firefighters rushed to the scene and tried to resuscitate the boy. Instead of showing signs of life, the emergency workers noticed that young Martinez had passed away. Teams of detectives and investigators questioned the boy’s parents and grandmother, where they opened up and told the truth. They revealed that they had kept Deshaun Martinez and his older brother in a shut cupboard. And this was to serve as the kids’ punishment for stealing food. When asked if she knew if her grandkids were being locked up in the cupboard, 50-year-old Ann Martinez agreed that she knew that 26-year-old Elizabeth Archibeque and 23-year-old Anthony Martinez locked their kids in the cupboard. She also said that she did nothing wrong. Whether the little Martinez’s grandmother is innocent or not, most Arizona residents agree that the boy suffered too much.
Jump to top
