Police: Arizona Man Killed 6-Year-Old Son While Trying to Exorcise Him to ‘Cast Out Demon’

A Tucson man has been arrested after allegedly killing his 6-year-old son during an attempted exorcism to “cast out” a demon, news station KOLD reports. Pablo Martinez, 31, was arrested on a first-degree murder charge after investigators say he admitted to pouring scalding hot water down the 6-year-old's throat in late September at a home in the Pascua Yaqui Native American reservation. According to court documents, Martinez told officials he noticed his son had a demon inside him earlier in the week. Martinez' wife—Romelia Martinez—also said the child was acting “demonic.” While Pablo Martinez gave his son a bath, he claims he saw something evil within the child and felt he needed to cast it out. He reportedly admitted to holding the child under a faucet of hot water for 5 to 10 minutes, which he claimed was effective in ridding the child of the demon. According to NBC News, Romelia Martinez says she told her husband to stop—but he said he “he had to do it.”

The Pascua Yaqui Police found the child on a bed, completely naked, with burns on 15 percent of his body. The child was sent to a local hospital where he was pronounced dead. Lynn Urquides Elementary School, where the child was a student, confirmed the 6-year-old's death.