Body of 9-Year-Old Boy Dead for Days Found Sitting on Couch in Arizona House of Horrors

Law enforcement officials in Arizona say a man has been arrested after his son’s decomposing body was found on a couch inside their trash- and insect-filled home.

Around 5:15 p.m. on July 14, deputies responded to the residence in Tucson for a rescue follow-up and found the 9-year-old boy dead inside, according to the Pima County Sheriff’s Department.

Deputies said it was clear he had been “deceased on a couch inside of the residence for an extended period of time.”

Detectives at the scene spoke with the child’s father, identified as 38-year-old Joseph Antonsen.

Antonsen reportedly told police his son got sick on July 12, and he planned on taking him to the doctor, according to a probable cause affidavit obtained by KOLD.

The father saw the boy was “shuddering and going limp,” and the boy soon stopped breathing, officials reportedly said.

Antonsen told investigators he “should had [sic] called somebody” after his son died, but he left the house and didn’t come back until July 14, the affidavit states.

Police noted the house, which was described as being in “deplorable condition,” contained piles of trash around the couch as well as “lots of empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotten foods, large amounts of 1-gallon bottles full of what appears to be urine, lots of insect activity,” including spiders.

Authorities said they spotted “spiderwebs everywhere throughout all the walls of the home.” They also noted the house did not have running water or a working toilet.

The child reportedly died in a seated position on the couch, and officials said he appeared to be in a state of decomposition.

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Antonsen was arrested and charged with child abuse and negligent homicide.

He was booked into the Pima County jail and was being held on a $500,000 bond.