9-Year-Old Idaho Boy Severely Beaten And Tortured Before His Death, Video Evidence Shows

A 9-year-old boy from Idaho, who had endured repeated abuse and starvation at the hands of his father and stepmother, was severely beaten and tortured in the days leading to his death, according to video evidence presented in court.

Erik Osuna and Monique Osuna of Meridian have been charged with first-degree murder in connection with the death of Erik's biological son, Emrik Osuna, who died on Sept. 2, 2020. During the couple's preliminary hearing Wednesday, the prosecutors presented video evidence detailing the extreme abuse the child had undergone before his death, news outlet Idaho Statesman said in a report.

The emergency officers who responded to the couple's home on Sept. 1 found Emrik unresponsive, with vomit crusted on his hair. He was taken to a hospital but was pronounced dead the following day.

Scott Frazier, an officer who responded to the scene, noticed dark bruises on Emrik's inner thighs that stretched over his buttocks all the way up to his lower back. "He was very emaciated, looked ill," Frazier said. Emrik also had trauma to his penis which, according to the officer, looked like someone had left a tightened rubber band around it, reported news outlet KTVB7.

Several videos captured on the nanny cameras installed inside the couple's house were shown before the court. The videos showed repeated abuse, including forced exercises for extended periods, starvation and physical beatings. The physical exercises included wall-sits, one-legged stands and other forms of torture that lasted around 12 hours a day.

"Sometimes it would go on, 20-plus hours of constant exercise," Matthew Ferronato, a Meridian police officer said in his testimony as per KTVB7.

In a 12-minute video, Emrik was seen performing an exercise in the kitchen. When he took a pause, Monique entered the kitchen and kicked the child before hitting him on his head several times. In another video, Monique was seen hitting the boy with a frying pan while he was standing on one leg with hands above his head. Erik was also seen once in video footage hitting his son with a belt.

A video recording on Aug. 21 showed Monique attacking the boy while he was sleeping in the fetal position on the floor. She grabbed him by his hair and swung him through the air like a ragdoll. He was then dragged into the kitchen where he was forced to do jumping jacks while she slapped him and hit him with a wooden spoon.

Ferronato said further that the attack had been a punishment for Emrik getting up at night and drinking from cups that had been left out. He also told the court that in the two-week video that the investigators had reviewed, he had not seen any member of the family showing affection or positive attention to Emrik.

Moreover, Emrik did not get anything when his siblings, father and stepmother ate fast food for dinner. And while they headed for their bedrooms, Emrik curled up on the living room floor or was forced to sleep in a hallway closet.

In the videos presented in the court, Emrik appeared severely malnourished with bones protruding from his body.

Investigators said that there were three other children, including an infant, who lived in the Osunas' home during the incident, but they did not appear to be abused.

Monique and Erik are in the custody of the Ada County Jail, where they are being held on $2 million bonds. Their next court hearing is scheduled for April 26.