BENTONVILLE -- Jury selection will begin Tuesday for a Bella Vista man accused of killing his son last year.
Mauricio Alejandro Torres, 46, and his wife, Cathy Lynn Torres, 45, are charged with capital murder and first-degree battery. They will be tried separately. Prosecutors opted to try Mauricio Torres first. Cathy Torres' trial is scheduled to begin May 5.
Prosecutors will seek the death penalty against both. Mauricio and Cathy Torres are being held in the Benton County Jail without bail.
The couple are accused of killing Maurice Isaiah Torres, 6.
Nathan Smith, Benton County prosecuting attorney, declined to comment on the case. Deputy prosecutors Stuart Cearley and Carly Marshall will assist Smith.
Jeff Rosenzweig, Bill James and George Morledge will represent Mauricio Torres. Rosenzweig declined to comment on the trial. He said the defense will reserve its comments for the courtroom.
A witness list filed by prosecutors includes more than 90 witnesses who may be called. A witness list from the defense team was not included in Torres' case file. The trial is expected to last three to four weeks.
Seventy-five prospective jurors are scheduled to report at 9 a.m. Tuesday for jury selection.
The first stage of jury selection will take place in Circuit Judge Robin Green's courtroom. Circuit Judge Brad Karren will preside over the case and the trial will be in his courtroom.
The boy was pronounced dead at an area hospital on March 29, 2015. A medical examiner determined he suffered chronic child abuse and his death was from internal injuries caused by rape, according to court documents.
The autopsy also found there were multiple healing and healed wounds and blunt force trauma to the child's head and other parts of his body, according to the probable cause affidavit.
The Torreses could be sentenced to life imprisonment without parole or the death penalty if convicted of capital murder. They face from five to 20 years if convicted of first-degree battery.
The Torreses also were arrested in connection with rape, a Class Y felony, but Benton County prosecutors did not file rape charges. Smith previously said the suspected rape occurred in Missouri, not in Benton County.
Zachary Holly's murder case was the last death penalty case tried in Benton County.
Holly, 30, of Bentonville was sentenced in May 2015 to die by lethal injection for killing 6-year-old Jersey Bridgeman in 2012. A jury found Holly guilty of capital murder, rape, kidnapping and residential burglary. Holly is being held on death row at Varner Supermax Unit.
Metro on 10/31/2016