Father pleads guilty to murder charge after boy’s death

BOISE (AP) — An Idaho man has pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in connection with the beating death of his 9-year-old son.

Erik Osuna made the guilty plea on Wednesday in exchange for prosecutors agreeing not to seek the death penalty, the Ada County Prosecutor’s office said in a press release. The boy’s stepmother, Monique Osuna, pleaded guilty to murder in February. Both face up to life in prison when they are sentenced in June.

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Emrik Osuna died in September 2020, a day after someone called police to report a medical emergency at his home. When Meridian Police officers arrived at the house, they could not detect Emrik’s heartbeat, and they said they saw signs of abuse. He was taken to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead the next day.

Nanny cameras from inside the home showed that the child was forced to do strenuous physical exercises for hours at a time, and in a written statement Monique Osuna said she beat the child with objects including a frying pan to make him continue exercising. The child appeared severely malnourished in the video clips played during a court hearing last year.

Three other children lived in the home, including an infant, but police previously said the others did not appear to be abused.