Police: Arizona man drowned 6-year-old son while trying to cast out ‘demon’

An Arizona man faces a federal murder charge for allegedly holding his 6-yearold son’s face under hot water for several minutes to cast out a “demon.”

Pablo Martinez told police that in the past week his son was possessed by a demon. While he was bathing his son and his other child Thursday on the Pascua Yaqui Indian Reservation near Tucson, Martinez told investigators he saw something evil in his son and had to get rid of the demon.

The boy became unnaturally angry, Martinez told investigators, so he allegedly held his son’s head under the bathtub faucet for five to 10 minutes so the hot water would run into his mouth. The water was casting out the demon, Martinez told investigators.

Michael Areinoff, a public defender representing Martinez, declined to comment on the allegations.

Belief in demonic possession is not a fringe idea. Slightly more than half of Americans polled in a YouGov survey in 2013 said they believed in it, and 46 percent reported that they believed exorcisms could drive out demons. Demand for Catholic exorcisms has been growing in recent years, The Atlantic reported.

The 6-year-old boy, his adoptive mother Romelia Martinez, and his biological mother are members of the Pascua Yaqui tribe, according to a criminal complaint. Pablo Martinez, who is believed to be in his 30s, is not a member.

Representatives for the Pascua Yaqui tribe could not immediately be reached for comment.

While Martinez held his son’s face under the faucet, his other child left the bathroom crying, according to the complaint. Romelia Martinez heard gurgling coming from the bathroom, unlocked the door and saw Pablo Martinez holding the boy down under the faucet, the complaint says.