FLAGSTAFF, Ariz. (AP) 鈥 An Arizona woman who pleaded guilty to murder in the starvation death of her 6-year-old son was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole on Thursday after witnesses described the horrors of the tiny closet that reeked of urine where he and his young brother were kept and denied food.
Elizabeth Archibeque's lawyer had asked that her sentence include the possibility of parole after 35 years partly because she had agreed to plead guilty to first-degree murder and child abuse in the 2020 death of Deshaun Martinez.
But Coconino Superior Court Judge Ted Reed said that while her expression of remorse was genuine, her 鈥渉einous, cruel and depraved behavior鈥 warranted imprisonment for 鈥渢he rest of your natural life.鈥
One police detective testified Thursday that she had never seen anything as horrific in her entire life 鈥 a nightmare for the emaciated boys crammed in a 21-by-25-inch (53-by-63-centimeter) closet for 16 hours a day.
Archibeque, 29, who briefly took the witness stand to testify on her own behalf on Thursday, said she blamed herself for her son's death and fully accepted whatever sentence she received.
鈥淎 huge part of me died along with my beautiful child," she said. 鈥淣ot a day goes by that I do not grieve ... I am so sorry."
Archibeque was charged along with the boy鈥檚 father, Anthony Martinez, and grandmother, Ann Martinez, who have pleaded not guilty and are being tried separately on murder and child abuse charges.
Archibeque's public defender, Christine Brown, suggested Thursday the other two were primarily to blame for the abuse of the boys.
Deshaun Martinez, who weighed just 18 pounds (8.1 kilograms), died of severe starvation. Authorities found him unresponsive after on March 2, 2020, and said she thought her grandson was dead. The manner of death later was listed as homicide.
The boy鈥檚 parents initially attributed their son鈥檚 malnourished state to a medical condition and to ingesting diet or caffeine pills. Eventually, they told police they kept him and his older brother in a closet for 16 hours a day and gave them little to eat. The brother survived.
The boys鈥 confinement was punishment for stealing food while the parents slept, police said. Their two sisters, ages 4 and 2, were found healthy in the apartment where they all lived.
Flagstaff police Detective Melissa Seay testified during Thursday鈥檚 sentencing hearing that on the day Deshaun's body was found in the family's Flagstaff apartment, she examined the tiny closet where the boys slept with an orange piece of plastic on the floor and a 鈥渇oul, awful smell of urine.鈥
鈥淚 have never seen something so horrific in all my life,鈥 Seay said. She said Deshaun 鈥渨as just bones.鈥
鈥淗is face was completely sunken in. It was just like a skeleton,鈥 Seay said. She said his brother didn't fare much better.
鈥淗is bones were protruding from his back. I could see his ribs," she said.
Deputy County Attorney Michael Tunink said he decided not to show the evidence photos during the sentencing hearing because they were so 鈥渄isturbing it is hard on anyone who has to see them.鈥
Brown said Archibeque was addicted to methamphetamine at birth, had a traumatic upbringing and suffered from mental issues. She said her husband and mother-in-law inflicted physical and emotional abuse on her and she 鈥渇elt powerless鈥 to do anything about the situation.
Brown said Archibeque told her during one visit to the jail that "I feel more free in here than I did with him.鈥
She said Archibeque "is very aware she will spend the rest of her life in prison" but feels a 鈥渉uge sense of relief鈥 knowing her children now live in a better place.
Lawyers for both sides requested and the judge agreed to seal all pre-sentencing documents because of their sensitive nature in an effort to protect the other children's privacy.
The foster mother who took in Deshaun鈥檚 siblings said his brother was 鈥渟o traumatized about food and eating鈥 that he would "ask every five minutes鈥 when they would eat next and kept a 鈥渟pecial little lunch box with snacks that would never leave his side.鈥
She said it has taken three years for one of the sisters to begin to talk and that the other one 鈥渉olds the belief she carried both brothers on her back and saved them.鈥
鈥淪o much has been taken from these children,鈥 she said.
Lawyers for Ann Martinez are scheduled to appear at a case management conference Sept. 18, with her trial currently set to begin in January 2024. Anthony Martinez had been scheduled to go to trial earlier this year, but the trial date was vacated and has not been reset.
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Sonner reported from Reno, Nevada.
