An Arizona man has been sentenced to life in prison after starving his six-year-old son to death in 2020.
Anthony Jose Martinez, 28, was sentenced Friday in Coconino County Superior Court, where his attorney also read a statement of apology written by him personally.
In it, Martinez apologized to the deceased boy’s three other siblings, two of whom did not suffer the same physical abuse but still suffered long-term damage, authorities said.
The boy who died, DeShaun Matinez, was commonly kept in a closet in the family home for 16 hours at a time, a crime for which the children’s mother was also sentenced to life in prison this time last year.
While Martinez declined to speak during the proceedings, his attorney read a portion of a statement intended for the three remaining children. When discovered, the boy’s body weighed just 18 pounds, well below average for his age. The cause of death was listed as homicide.
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Anthony Jose Martinez, 28, was sentenced in Coconino County Superior Court on Friday, where his attorney also read a personally written statement of apology.
The boy who died, DeShaun Matinez, used to stay in a closet in the family home for 16 hours at a time and weighed just 18 pounds when his body was found in March 2020.
“I want to start by apologizing to my children for all the things I put them through,” attorney Taylor Fox read from Martinez’s letter, as Martinez stood stoically in the background.
‘I love you all so much. I’m sorry I couldn’t be the father you all deserved. I wish I could take it all back and do things the right way and protect you from all of this.
‘I’m not going to ask you to forgive me for my actions, I just hope that one day I can make things right in any way possible.’
The new adoptive mother of his children also spoke before the sentencing, during which she criticized Martinez for failing her three children.
“A father is the protector, the provider, the teacher and the first role model in life,” he said during his statement in court.
‘I am eternally saddened, Anthony, that you have wasted the gift and privilege of fatherhood.
‘A lot has been taken from these children, but pieces of who they are can never be broken.
‘As their adoptive mother, I recognize the beauty of their natural gifts. I am here to tell you how special and unique these children are.’
Police said the couple’s two other children — girls who were 2 and 4 at the time — were healthy and of a proportionate weight, while the boy’s older brother, then 7, suffered the same type of abuse. He survived.
Now without both biological parents, the children were not present in court, as the defense spent its time painting Martinez as a victim of abuse by his own father, which they say affected his adult life.
One of them, the boy’s older brother, who was seven years old at the time, was also locked in the small bedroom closet with his brother for 16 hours a day over the course of a month, all for stealing food at night. while his parents were sleeping.
The children’s mother, Elizabeth Archibeque, was criticized last year as “egregious, cruel and depraved” by Coconino Superior Court Judge Ted Reed, who at the time said she deserved prison for “the rest of ( his) natural life”.
That ruling came after Reed admitted that the former mother of four seemed remorseful for her actions.
The oldest boy, the only other victim of the couple’s abuse, managed to survive but weighed just 28 pounds when police found him and his late brother in March 2020.
He was taken to a hospital, where he recovered after almost three weeks of treatment.
Police said the couple’s two other children, two girls ages 2 and 4 at the time, were healthy and of a proportionate weight.
Officials discovered they had no restrictions at home, but still witnessed the abuse.
The children’s mother, Elizabeth Archibeque (seen here at her own sentencing), was criticized last year as “heinous, cruel and depraved” by Coconino Superior Court Judge Ted Reed, who at the time said she deserved to be imprisoned for “the remainder of (her) natural life.”
The foster mother who took in Deshaun’s siblings said her brother was “so traumatized by food and eating” that he “asked every five minutes” when they would eat again and kept a “special little lunch box of snacks that would never leave his side”. .’
He said it took three years for one of the sisters to start talking and that the other ‘maintains the belief that she carried both brothers on her back and saved them.’
“These children have had so much taken away from them,” he said.
The boy’s parents initially attributed their son’s malnourished state to illness and the ingestion of diet pills or caffeine. Finally, they revealed to the police that they kept the two children locked in a closet for two-thirds of the day.
Presiding Judge Ted Reed cited aggravating factors in sentencing Martinez, describing the crimes as especially heinous and cruel while Martinez was in a position of trust as the children’s father.
The judge acknowledged that Martinez had a traumatic childhood and no criminal record, but still gave him the same sentence as his wife.
Archibeque, 30, briefly took the stand to testify on her own behalf last year, saying she blamed herself for her son’s death and fully accepted whatever sentence she received.
Archibeque and Martinez will now spend their natural lives behind bars after being tried separately on murder and child abuse charges.
“A big part of me died along with my beautiful son,” she said at the time. “Not a day goes by that I don’t hurt… I’m so sorry.”
“I recognize the traumatic childhood you experienced, but that in no way provides an excuse for the behavior you displayed toward these children,” Reed said Friday to conclude Martinez’s hearing.
“I understand and appreciate your remorse and wish you the best.”
In addition to his life sentence, Martinez received another 68 years for two counts of child abuse and two counts of kidnapping, committed against both the 6-year-old boy and his 7-year-old brother.
The sentences will be served consecutively, and also include two convictions for aggravated assault