MERIDIAN, ID – On September 1, paramedics responded to a home in the 1000 block of W. Broadway Avenue, where a child was said to have stopped breathing. Upon arrival, emergency medical personnel found 9-year-old Emrik Osuna with no pulse, and began performing CPR, according to a press release.
The boy was transported to a local hospital, where he was soon pronounced dead.
Signs of long-term abuse were obvious to the emergency room doctors, and 29-year-old Erik Emmanuel Osuna, the boy's father, and his stepmother, Monique Osuna, 27, were soon placed under arrest.
The following day, both were arraigned on various charges of abuse.
At that proceeding, Ada County Jail Tamera Kelly told Magistrate Judge Kira Dale that Monique Osuna beat the child with a belt, a wooden spoon, a dog leash, and even a frying pan. The boy's stepmother, told police that she used the dog leash “because it was heavier than the belt,” according to court documents.
As for his father, Erik “admitted … he did nothing to save his son...The little boy had bruises all over his body, specifically on his buttocks, groin, legs and torso. Some of the bruises were extremely large and essentially covered the back of his body,” Kelly stated.
The Meridian Press reported:
Kelly detailed how Monique Osuna described assigning strenuous physical punishments to the child — such as jumping jacks and wall sits — that he had to complete while she worked. Monique Osuna told police she put Emrik in a closet at night to sleep and withheld food from him, according to Kelly. Erik Osuna also told police the boy had recently only been given rice and water to eat.
Monique Osuna has been charged with Felony Injury to a Child, and is currently being held at the Ada County Jail on $2 million bail.
Erik Osuna has also been charged with Felony Injury to a Child, and is currently being held at the Ada County Jail on an ICE detainer.
Both are scheduled to appear in court on September 17.
