Arkansas death-case jury found factors met

Torres transferred to prison in Grady

BENTONVILLE -- A Benton County jury decided prosecutors proved all of their aggravating factors in Mauricio Torres' death penalty case last week.

About the case

Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren followed the jury’s recommendation and ordered Mauricio Torres be sentenced to death by lethal injection. Karren set the execution date for Nov. 15, 2017, but an automatic appeal will be filed and the execution date will be set aside.

Source: Staff report

Torres, 45, of Bella Vista was sentenced to death Tuesday for killing his 6-year-old son. The jury found Torres guilty of capital murder and first-degree battery. He also was sentenced to 20 years in prison for the battery conviction.

Maurice Isaiah Torres, 6, died March 30, 2015, at a Bella Vista hospital. A medical examiner testified the boy's death was caused by a bacterial infection as a result of being sodomized with a stick. The medical examiner also testified chronic child abuse contributed to the child's death.

Mauricio Torres admitted placing a stick in his son's rectum but claimed his wife, Cathy, shoved their son down on the stick. She is charged with capital murder and first-degree battery. Her trial is set for May.

Nathan Smith, Benton County's prosecuting attorney, listed three aggravating factors for seeking the death penalty, and the jury found all existed: Torres previously committed another violent felony; the murder was committed in an especially cruel and depraved manner; and the murder was committed against a victim Torres knew was especially vulnerable because the boy was 12 years or younger.

Torres' defense team provided the jury with about a dozen mitigating circumstances, or reasons, why he should not receive the death sentence.

The jury did not think the following circumstances existed: Torres committed the murder while under extreme mental or emotional disturbance or while he was acting under unusual pressure or domination of another person; the murder was committed by another person and Torres was an accomplice playing a minor role; and Torres had no significant history of criminal activity, had a difficult relationship with his family, has skills that would help him to contribute to society in prison and he attempted to revive his son and is remorseful for his son's death.

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Five times all jury members found that a mitigating circumstance existed: He was a hardworker, he was an occupational therapist assistant, he helped other people recover from injuries, he suffered from obesity and other associated medical problems, and he was abandoned as a child by his mother and grew up without her.

Twice a juror agreed a circumstance existed -- Torres was exposed to civil war during his childhood in El Salvador, and he did not intend to cause the death of his son.

Jurors did not write down any of their own mitigating factors.

The jury then had to decide whether the aggravating factors outweighed the mitigating circumstances. The seven men and five women decided that beyond a reasonable doubt the aggravating factors justified a death sentence, and all 12 signed the form recommending the death sentence.

"It makes sense that the jury found that there were some mitigating circumstances since the law requires them to consider that," Smith said Monday. "Ultimately, the jury concluded that the aggravating circumstances were of such gravity to justify a death sentence as the law directs. I am grateful for the care the jury took in reaching their decision and for their service."

Kim Anderson of Springdale was an alternate juror in the trial. Anderson sat through the trial with the other jurors but didn't vote or take part in any deliberations.

"The law took the emotion out of the process," she said after the trial. "I saw a system work as it was intended to. I personally think it was a very tough decision, but one that would have to be made. If we were to follow the law it was the only decision that could be made. It was tough but right."

Mauricio Torres was transferred from the Benton County jail to Varner Supermax in Grady on Friday.

Metro on 11/22/2016

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