A Mesa mother has been arrested after she reportedly tried to take the life of her disabled 8-year-old son. The Mesa Police Department responded to a domestic violence call early Sunday morning near Broadway Road and Arizona Avenue, where they found a young boy with special needs having suffered multiple injuries. His mother, 36-year-old Erica Encinas, admitted to the responding officers that she had attempted to kill her son on numerous occasions, according to a report by AZFamily.
In an initial court hearing, prosecutor Ashley Stetson gave a harrowing account of the methods Encinas allegedly used. "First, she tried to hit him over the head with a rock," Stetson explained. "That did not kill the victim, so then she tried to smother him with a trash bag, that did not work, your honor, then she tried to choke him with a rosary," Stetson told the judge, as obtained by AZFamily. The boy, though injured, was rushed to a local hospital and is expected to survive the ordeal.
Authorities alleged that Encinas also contemplated drowning her son in a canal before opting to attack him physically. In addition to the aforementioned attempts, they claimed she smothered him with a trash bag, choked him using a rosary, and struck him over the head with tile flooring. These details emerged during prosecution statements in court. A chilling element to this episode is the presence of Encinas' elder daughter during the incident. The prosecutor relayed to the judge that, "In the process of that, her other minor child did try to intervene, your honor, to save her sibling, however, at the time, the suspect did fight the second minor victim," according to Fox 10 Phoenix.
The community has responded with shock and bewilderment. Neighbor Jay Magana, who resides across the street from where the arrest took place, remarked on the normalcy that once surrounded Encinas' home. "We're neighbors and sometimes there are family fights," said Magana. "I see kids playing outside and we wave when we go by, but when you hear something like that, it’s shocking," he told AZFamily. Authorities have yet to make any statement regarding whether Encinas has a drug or alcohol problem or if she suffers from mental illness, and she remains detained on a $250,000 cash bond.
