A Colorado couple (pictured above) has been arrested after allegedly killing their 11-year-old son by forcing him to drink four 24-ounce bottles of water in four hours.
According to reports, Ryan and Tara Sabin are facing first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death, and six counts of misdemeanor child abuse charges over the death of 11-year-old Zachary Sabin.
The coroner’s report states the boy died on March 11 of forced water intoxication after he was ordered to drink four 24-ounce bottles of water over the course of four hours without eating. He was found dead in his bed with foam coming out of his mouth; bruises on his head, arms, shin and buttocks; and a red contusion to his left eye.
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Tara, Zachary’s step-mother, told police the boy suffered from a hereditary urological disorder that caused him to urinate in his bed, and because of this was required to drink at least two 32 oz. bottles a day.
Ryan, a soldier at Fort Carson, told police his wife called him on March 10 to let him know Zachary hadn’t consumed his water that day. The 41-year-old said his son was only taking sips of the water and throwing up when he arrived home. An arrest warrant affidavit states:
“He said [Zachary] was throwing up because he was drinking the water too slowly and getting air in his stomach which caused the water to sit on top of it. He said in the Army you chug water and just ‘burp it out.’ He said he kept telling [Zachary] to chug the water.”
The boy later complained that he couldn’t drink the water and had pain in his legs. The affidavit continues:
“Mr. Sabin said [Zachary] was lying on the floor throwing a fit. He said at one point he told [Zachary] to get up and kicked his leg. He said [Zachary] didn’t get up and he told him to get up or he would kick him harder. He said he then did kick him a second time.”
Ryan claimed he then brought Zachary outside, hoping the cool temperature would “snap [ Zachary] out of his tantrum.” The father went on to bring the boy back inside and place him back on the floor, where he began to snore.
The father claimed that his son got up, walked around the kitchen while grunting and making “other unintelligible noises,” then went into the mudroom and “placed his hands on the wall and just stared at the wall” before Ryan put him to bed around 11:15 p.m..
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The following morning at around 6:15 a.m., Ryan called 911 after finding blood and foam coming out of Zachary’s mouth. At the time of his death, the boy was wearing a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles pajama top and a urine-soaked diaper.
The couple turned themselves into the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office on Tuesday, and are currently being held without bond. The district attorney’s office has yet to file charges, but the couple will make their first appearance in court on June 23.
[Image via El Paso County Sheriff’s Office]
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