Arizona man charged after 6-year-old son dies during attempted exorcism

TUSCON, Arizona (WPVI) -- Authorities in Tuscon, Arizona are investigating a shocking death where they say a man admitted to killing his 6-year-old son during an attempted exorcism.

A blue ribbon now hangs on the front door of the home on the Pascua Yaqui Reservation and neighbors are heartbroken.

"Would never see it in him, that he would ever do something so cruel to his kids. But, I just, it just devastates me, it makes my eyes watery, too," said one neighbor.

The neighbor asked not to be on camera, but told KOLD-TV that she used to see Pablo Martinez in his yard with his two children.

She said she was outside last week.

"My kids were playing and just, we heard screaming, a man screaming and from there we seen ambulance come and after not even two seconds later, they come with the little boy outside. His hands were just dangling," she recalled.

In court documents, Pablo Martinez said he "saw something evil" in his son and admitted to holding him under hot water in the bathtub for five to ten minutes.

He told investigators the water was pouring into the boy's mouth and he noticed the hot water was casting out a demon. The documents also say the other child was in the bathtub for some of this.

Neighbors have now left balloons on the home's fence. They told KOLD-TV this all happened not long after kids got off the school bus last week.

They also say the family that lived there was rather reserved but Pablo's mother, who seemed to help with the children, had recently passed away.

"I think after she passed, that's when everything just fell apart. Cause, he was literally, how we're really religious here on the tribe. He was asking to take the saints out and do a lot of stuff and just inside closed doors, we don't know what happens," said the neighbor.

Martinez has been arrested on a first-degree murder charge.