Torres plans to appeal 3rd murder conviction

BENTONVILLE — Mauricio Torres’ murder case is headed to the Arkansas Supreme Court for a third time.

Torres, 53, of Bella Vista was sentenced last month to life in prison without parole for killing his 6-year-old son, Maurice Isaiah Torres.

A jury found Torres guilty of capital murder and battery. He was sentenced to life in prison for the murder and 20 years for battery.

Attorney Jeff Rosenzweig filed a motion Monday saying Torres plans to appeal.

“I am very confident the conviction will be affirmed,” Benton County Prosecuting Attorney Nathan Smith said. “After having been convicted by 36 jurors in Benton County over three trials, it is time for this defendant to pay for the despicable crimes he committed against his son.”

Isaiah died March 30, 2015, of an infection caused when a stick was shoved in his rectum. A medical examiner listed chronic child abuse as a factor in Isaiah’s death.

Torres said in a 2015 police interview that he put the stick in his son’s rectum but later testified that Isaiah was holding the stick while doing squats and fell on it.

He admitted he physically abused his son but claimed his wife was responsible for most of the abuse the boy suffered.

Cathy Torres, 51, pleaded guilty in 2017 to capital murder and battery and was sentenced to life in prison without parole.

Mauricio Torres was convicted and sentenced to death in 2016, but the state Supreme Court overturned the conviction in 2019 and ordered a new trial.

A second jury also found Torres guilty of murder and battery. The proceedings ended during the sentencing phase when a witness attempted to attack him.

Benton County Circuit Judge Brad Karren declared a mistrial. The state attorney general’s office appealed, but the state Supreme Court agreed with Karren.