Couple, teen arrested in death of 7-year-old boy after punishing him over Bible verses
(FOX NEWS) - A Wisconsin couple and their son have been arrested in the death of a 7-year-old boy in their care, after they allegedly punished him for not memorizing Bible verses.
Timothy and Tina Hauschultz and their 15-year-old son made the 7-year-old, whose name was Ethan, hold a 44-pound log for two hours every day for a week, Newsweek reports. While being monitored during his punishment, a medical examiner believes that the teen hit and kicked the younger boy 100 times, rolled the heavy log over his chest and stood on his head and body while Ethan was face-down in a puddle. He then allegedly buried him in "his own little coffin of snow." Ethan died in April 2018 of hypothermia and blunt force trauma.
The Hauschultz's son has been charged with first-degree reckless homicide, while his father Timothy, 48, is charged with felony murder and felony contributing to the delinquency of a child. Both the father and son face an additional number of charges. Tina, 35, is charged with failing to prevent bodily harm and intentionally contributing to the delinquency of a child.
It's not known how the Hauschultz's are related to Ethan, but Timothy and Tina are listed as his court-appointed guardians, along with two of his siblings, including his twin.
The 15-year-old told police that he was put in charge of supervising Ethan and his twin, who were both undergoing the punishment of carrying logs for not knowing 13 Bible verses of Timothy's choosing. Ethan's birth mother, Andrea Everett, spoke out after the boy's death in April.
"When I got there Ethan did not have a heartbeat and his temperature was 23 degrees," she said. They worked on him for five hours, giving him CPR the entire time, and still couldn't get a heartbeat. There was no brain activity."