'Just like a skeleton': Father gets life in starvation death of his son, 6, found weighing 18 pounds and kept in a closet as a punishment for stealing food as his parents slept

In the photo on the left is a memorial for Deshaun Martinez in Flagstaff, Ariz., who was locked in a closet and died of starvation in early March 2020. In the photo on the right, Anthony Martinez watches as the jury members leave the courtroom on Thursday, May 23, 2024, in Flagstaff, Ariz., after the jury found Martinez guilty of all charges, including first-degree murder in the 2020 starvation death of his 6-year-old son. (Photos from Jake Bacon/Arizona Daily Sun via AP)

An Arizona father received a life sentence in prison for the starvation death of his 6-year-old son, found weighing just 18 pounds and who had been kept in a closet with his brother for 16 hours a day for more than a month as a punishment for stealing food as his parents slept.

Anthony Martinez, 28, was sentenced on Friday for murder, child abuse and kidnapping in the abuse of his son Deshaun Martinez and the boy’s older brother.

The woman who adopted the surviving boy and the parents’ two other children gave an emotional victim impact statement, The Arizona Daily Sun reported.

“A father is the protector, provider, teacher and the first role model in life. I am eternally saddened, Anthony, that you threw away the gift and privilege of fatherhood,” she said during her statement to the court. “So much has been taken from these children, yet 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.”

The defendant’s attorney read from a letter in which he apologized, saying, “I wish that I could take it all back and do things the right way and protect you from all of this,” the Daily Sun reported.

As Law&Crime reported, Anthony Martinez was convicted in May. The boy’s mother, Elizabeth Archibeque, was convicted last year and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole. The boy’s grandmother was also charged in the case and pleaded guilty this week to charges of manslaughter and attempted child abuse, local affiliate KTVK reported.

In March 2020, Deshaun’s tiny body was discovered at the Martinez residence. An autopsy revealed he died of starvation and showed he had a “skeletal appearance” because he had almost no fat on his body and was covered in cuts and scrapes.

The boy’s parents admitted they kept the boy and his older brother locked in a closet for some 16 hours a day and gave them very little to eat, police said. The older boy, then 7, was hospitalized for malnourishment and ultimately recovered after a weekslong hospital stay.

The judge chided Archibeque before sentencing her to life in prison. He called the torture of her son “heinous, cruel and depraved behavior.” Police described the horrific nature of the boy’s condition.

“I have never seen something so horrific in all my life,” Flagstaff Police Detective Melissa Seay testified during the mother’s sentencing hearing. “[He] was just bones. His face was completely sunken in. It was just like a skeleton.”

Law&Crime’s David Harris and Colin Kalmbacher contributed to this report.

The post ‘Just like a skeleton’: Father gets life in starvation death of his son, 6, found weighing 18 pounds and kept in a closet as a punishment for stealing food as his parents slept first appeared on Law & Crime .