BENTONVILLE -- Circuit Judge Tom Smith on Thursday dismissed a petition seeking an order of protection involving parents accused of killing their 6-year-old son.
Mauricio Alejandro Torres, 45, and Cathy Torres, 43, are being held without bail in the Benton County jail.
They were arrested April 6 on preliminary charges of capital murder, rape and first-degree battery. Prosecutors have not filed formal charges against the Bella Vista couple.
Maurice Isaiah Torres, 6, was taken to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead March 29. A medical examiner later determined the boy suffered from chronic child abuse, and his death was the result of internal injuries caused by rape, according to court documents.
Cathy Torres filed for a protection order a few days before the couple's arrest April 6. She did not want to have any contact with her husband. The request also extended to their daughters, ages 6 and 7, who were put in Arkansas Department of Human Services custody after the boy's death.
The couple appeared in court Thursday for a hearing on the protection order.
Circuit Judge Tom Smith asked them whether they had attorneys in the protection order case. They didn't, but attorneys have been appointed to represent them in the criminal cases.
"I have one, but he told me not to worry about this case," Cathy Torres told Smith.
Smith did not see the need for the order because the Torreses are in jail and their two daughters are in state custody. Smith dismissed the petition.
Cathy Torres said in the petition for the order that their son died because of 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 were home-schooled, and the family went camping the weekend before Maurice's death, according to the summary.
Cathy Torres said in the documents that she was scared to talk with police and answer questions because her husband had 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.
The Torreses' arraignments before Circuit Judge Brad Karren are set for 8 a.m. May 4.
State Desk on 04/24/2015