FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. — A woman in Flagstaff, Arizona, was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after the death of her son in March 2020.
Elizabeth Archibeque, 26, was sentenced on Thursday after she pleaded guilty in May to first-degree murder and child abuse of her son, Deshaun Martinez, 6, according to The Arizona Republic.
Martinez died on March 2, 2020, according to the newspaper. The boy’s grandmother, Ann Martinez, called the police after his father, Anthony Martinez, found him not moving in the closet. Police reportedly found that he only weighed 18 pounds at the time of his death which is the “expected weight of a 1-year-old.”
He was found in a small closet with his 7-year-old brother. According to USA Today, police said they believed that the boys were locked in the closet for up to 16 hours a day for around a month and were not given any food.
Martinez’s two sisters, a 2-year-old and a 4-year-old, were both found to be healthy in the apartment, The Associated Press reported.
Flagstaff police Detective Melissa Seay, according to the AP, testified about her examination of the closet the boy was in and stated that he “was just bones.”
“I have never seen something so horrific in all my life,” Seay said, according to the AP. An autopsy found that Martinez died from severe starvation.
Archibeque testified at her trial and said on Thursday that she accepted any sentence she was given and blamed herself for Martinez’s death, according to the AP.
Archibeque was sentenced to life in prison, according to the AP.
Her lawyer tried to ask that her sentence include the possibility of parole after 35 years since she agreed to plead guilty, the AP reported.
In addition to Archibeque, Anthony Martinez, and Ann Martinez, were also facing murder and child abuse charges, the AP reported. Both pleaded not guilty and are being tried separately.
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