Dad says he left dead son in Picture Rocks home for two days, court filing shows

A 38-year-old Picture Rocks man arrested on suspicion of negligent homicide and child abuse in connection with the death of his 9-year-old son told authorities he left for two days after he saw the boy “shuttering and going limp” then was unable to find a pulse, a court document says.

Joseph Gregory Antonsen, 38, told investigators his son was ill about two days before his decomposing body was found on a couch and that he had planned to take him to get medical attention, according to an initial complaint filed in Pima County Justice Court.

Antonsen told investigators he started the car to take the boy to get medical treatment, but when he went back into the house to put on a shirt he noticed his son “shuttering and going limp,” the complaint says. Antonsen said the boy then wasn’t breathing and he was unable to find a pulse.

That’s when Antonsen says he left the home in the 6000 block of North Pelto Path, near West Picture Rocks and North Sandario roads, for two days, the complaint says.

He would not tell investigators where he went and refused to answer any more questions, the complaint says.

About 5:15 p.m. Sunday deputies found the body of the unidentified boy on a couch, the Pima County Sheriff’s Department said in a news release. The boy was in a “sitting” position and appeared to have been dead long enough for decomposition to begin, the court document says.

Deputies described the home as being “cluttered” with “piles of garbage around and near the couch.” The home had no running water or working toilets. The home was filled with “lots of empty beer cans, large piles of soiled diapers, rotten foods, large amounts of one gallon bottles full of what appeared to be urine,” the court filing says.

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Officers also found spiders and spiderwebs everywhere, as well as black windows and a brown recluse.

Antonsen was arrested on suspicion of one count of negligent homicide and two counts of child abuse, the news release said.

Antonsen declined to appear for his initial court hearing on July 14, his lawyer said during the hearing.

Bond for Antonsen was set at $500,000.

The investigation continues.

The preliminary hearing has been set for July 25.