Arizona police have eerily declared a nine-year-old boy was “helpless” after his body was found abandoned in his father’s squalid home.
The horrific incident occurred 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 allegedly told police that his son, whose name has not been released, became seriously ill two days earlier, but that he left when his son fainted instead of calling for help.
In a newly released 911 call from KGUN9Police 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 home in Tucson, Arizona, last week as police arrested the father on charges of child abuse and negligent homicide.
Joseph Gregory Antonsen, 38, allegedly admitted to police that his son suffered a medical emergency and knew he should have called for help, but instead abandoned the child for two days.
When police arrived at the ramshackle home, they reportedly found the property had no running water or working toilets.
The boy’s body was found sitting upright on a couch, surrounded by “empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotting food, bottles filled with what appears to be urine, and a lot of insect and spider activity,” the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said.
Authorities added that poisonous black widow spiders were found in the home, although it is not known whether the boy’s illness was due to the bite.
Investigators said Antonsen told them that when her son became ill, he would shake and “go weak” before stopping breathing.
After failing to find a pulse, Antonsen allegedly admitted she knew she should have called for help, but instead left her son in the house for two days.
Antonsen did not call 911 until he returned. When detectives arrived, they observed that the boy had been dead for “an extended period of time,” according to reports. Cold.
When police arrived at the ramshackle home, they reportedly found the property had no running water or working toilets, and the boy’s body was found surrounded by beer cans, dirty diapers, rotting food and insects.
A neighbor told the outlet she had not seen the nine-year-old boy in about a month before his death, and noted that he had not been hanging out with his father as much in recent months.
“His son was very cute,” she said. “He was a very friendly kid… he was very much a cop. He was much friendlier than his father.”
The neighbor added that her daughter used to play with the boy and said she now had to tell her daughter the news of the tragedy.
“She was always so excited to run around and hang out with them,” he said. “It would take me hours to tell them, ‘You have to come in now.'”
Another neighbor said they previously believed the house was abandoned because they never saw anyone enter or leave the property.
Following Antonsen’s arrest, police said he was considered a flight risk because he is solely dependent on his parents who live in Panama.
He was taken into custody on $500,000 bail and had not posted bail at the time of writing.