Court docs: 9-year-old boy's body found amid garbage, spiders, soiled diapers

UPDATE (4:43 p.m):

An interim complaint obtained by KGUN 9 sheds more light on the circumstances in which Pima County Sheriff's deputies found the 9-year-old boy.

Deputies responded to a Rescue Follow Up call at the home of Joseph Gregory Antonsen on Sunday, July 14.

Upon arrival, they made contact with Antonsen. Antonsen told deputies that his son had become ill on Friday, July 12. He told deputies that he was going to take him to get checked. He went out to turn on his vehicle, then back inside to put a shirt on, the complaint said.

At that point, he noticed his son was "shuttering and going limp," the complaint said. He could not find a pulse and he was not breathing, Antonsen told deputies.

Antonsen told deputies that he ended up leaving the home for an unknown location, without his son, the complaint said. He did not return for two days.

Deputies described the home as being cluttered with piles of garbage around and near the couch where the boy was located, along with empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotten foods, and large amounts of one-gallon bottles, apparently filled with urine, the complaint said.

Deputies also noted a lot of insect and spider activity, such as black widows and brown recluses. Spiderwebs were going everywhere, the complaint said.

The home had no running water or working toilets, the complaint said.

Deputies located the boy on the couch in a sitting position. He was in the process of decomposition, the complaint said.

When detectives tried to get more information from Antonsen, he declined to provide any, the complaint said.

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A 38-year-old male was charged with two felony counts of Child Abuse and one felony count of Negligent Homicide after his 9-year-old son was found dead on a couch by the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

On July 14, 2024, at approximately 5:15 p.m., deputies from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department, Tucson Mountain District, responded to the 6000 block of North Pelto Path for a rescue follow-up.

Upon arrival, the deputies found the child dead inside the residence. The father, Joseph Antonsen, was inside the residence when the deputies arrived.

Detectives from the Pima County Sheriff’s Department Homicide Unit responded to collect evidence and interview witnesses. The detectives’ investigation revealed that the child had been on a couch for an “extended period of time.”

Based on the investigation, Antonsen was arrested and booked into the Pima County Adult Detention Complex on those charges.

The investigation remains ongoing.