BELLA VISTA -- Police arrested a couple Monday on charges they raped and killed their 6-year-old son.
Cathy Lynn Torres, 43, called police at 11:33 p.m. March 29 and said she found her son, Maurice, unconscious and not breathing, adding he had brown liquid coming from his nose, according to police dispatch logs. Other than complaining of a stomach ache earlier in the evening, Torres said the boy had been asleep and snoring before she found him, the log shows.
The boy was taken by ambulance to Mercy Medical Clinic in Bella Vista, where he was pronounced dead. An autopsy at the Arkansas Medical Examiner's Office ruled the death a homicide, according to a news release Monday from Police Chief Ken Farmer.
Bella Vista police said the boy died from internal injuries caused by rape, according to court documents filed Friday in connection with Cathy Torres' petition for an order of protection from her husband.
Mauricio Alejandro Torres, 45, and Cathy Torres were arrested Monday on charges of capital murder, a Class Y felony; rape, a Class Y felony; and first-degree battery, a Class B felony, according to the Bella Vista Police Department.
They also have two daughters. The girls, ages 6 and 7, are in custody of the Arkansas Department of Human Services.
In her petition for the order, Cathy Torres claims their son died due to abuse from her husband.
Cathy Torres believes her husband "is the only man who had access to their son for an extended period of time on the days leading up to his death," according to a summary prepared for the petition. The children are homeschooled, and the family went camping the weekend before Maurice's death, according to the summary.
Cathy Torres claims in the documents she was scared to talk with police and answer questions because her husband has threatened to kill her, and he once told her he would bury her in the backyard. He also had put his finger to her head like a gun, according to the court documents seeking the protection order.
She was granted a temporary order of protection until April 23.
The Torreses live at 9 Cresswell Circle in the last of five houses on the street. A swing set and bench sat in the front yard Monday, and statues of baby angels adorned the walkway to the front door.
The Torreses are set to appear in Circuit Judge Brad Karren's courtroom this morning for a probable cause and bond hearing.
Karren is scheduled to preside next month over another murder case involving a 6 year old. Zachary Holly, 30, is accused of the Nov. 20, 2012, murder of 6-year-old Jersey Bridgeman in Bentonville. Holly is charged with capital murder, rape, kidnapping and residential burglary.
He previously pleaded not guilty to the charges and is being held without bond in the Benton County Jail. Prosecutors will seek the death penalty.
Jury selection for Holly is set to begin May 8.
NW News on 04/07/2015