Inset: Joseph Antonsen (Pima County Jail). Background: The residence where Antonsen”s 9-year-old son died (KGUN).
A 39-year-old man from Arizona faces over ten years in prison for his involvement in the tragic death of his 9-year-old son. The boy’s decomposing body was discovered on the father’s couch, in a residence cluttered with refuse, “soiled diapers,” and gallon bottles of urine. Court documents mentioned the presence of both brown recluse and black widow spiders.
Joseph Antonsen was sentenced by Pima County Superior Judge Kimberly Ortiz to the maximum 15 years in a state correctional facility, followed by 20 years of probation, due to his culpability in his son’s death. Antonsen had earlier pleaded guilty to two charges of child abuse.
During the sentencing, Antonsen’s lawyer argued that his client faced significant untreated mental health and substance abuse challenges. However, the judge stated that the boy’s death could have been completely avoided, as reported by Tucson NBC affiliate KVOA.
“You knew you needed help and, for whatever reason — even with the resources around you from your parents, both emotional and financial — you were not able to correct your behavior and the devastation that you were surrounding your child with,” Ortiz said, according to the station.
A Law&Crime previously reported, investigators with the Pima County Sheriff’s Office on July 14, 2024, responded to a call about a 911 call about a deceased 9-year-old boy at Antonsen’s home in Picture Rocks, Arizona, which is around 100 miles southeast of Phoenix.
Upon arriving at the scene, first responders made contact with Antonsen, who placed the initial 911 call. He told investigators that his son had “become ill” two days earlier.
“Joseph also stated that he was going to take him to get medically checked and on that day he went out to turn on his vehicle and then went back inside the house to put a shirt on,” a probable cause affidavit stated. “He noticed that his son was ‘shuttering and going limp,’ he stated that after that he could not find a pulse and stated he was not breathing.”
Despite knowing that he “should have called somebody,” Antonsen said that when he realized his son did not have a pulse and was not breathing, he “ended up leaving the residence to an unknown location.” Antonsen said he left the house on July 12 and did not return until July 14.
Investigators who entered the home described it as being in a deplorable state.
“When deputies entered the home they described it as being cluttered and also noticed piles of garbage around and near the couch where [the victim] was located along with lots of empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotten foods, large amounts of one gallon bottles full of what appear to be urine, lots of insect activity, spiders like black widows and brown recluse were observed inside the home along with spiderwebs everywhere throughout all the walls of the home,” the affidavit stated. “It was also discovered that the home had no running water or working toilets. When Deputies located who was in the couch in a sitting position, they stated that he was in the process of decomposition.”
Immediately after the child’s death, local CBS affiliate KOLD spoke with a neighbor who sounded shaken up that the “really friendly” boy who played with her daughter had died in this way.
“His son was really cute. He was a really friendly kid,” the woman said during an interview. “He was very polite. He was a lot friendlier than his dad.”
