9-Year-Old's Horrific Torture By Stepmom Was Captured By Nanny Cameras

Videos and details of torture before death of a 9-year-old Meridian boy was recently shared in Idaho court.

The boy, Emrik Osuna, was repeatedly beaten and faced extreme abuse before his death in early September last year, investigators and prosecutors said Wednesday in court where evidence was presented, reported Idaho Statesman.

Monique and Erik Osuna, residents of Meridian, are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Erik’s biological son, Emrik Osuna, on Sept. 2, 2020. Erik is also charged with felony counts of altering, concealing or destruction of evidence; inflicting bodily injury; and injury to a child.

Back in September, the boy was found lying in a Meridian apartment with no heartbeat. His body was covered in bruises and vomit. He was pronounced dead in the pediatric ICU at St. Luke's hours later.

Prosecutor Tamara Kelly said that Emrik was not attending school owing to the pandemic and could not escape from his stepmother's abuse, reported KTVB.

"Due to COVID, she's been working from home and since [Emrik] was not in school, she essentially had access to him all day long," Kelly said.

An Ada County paramedic, a colleague of Monique and four members of the Meridian Police Department were among those who testified Wednesday.

The co-worker, Hannah Berry, said she talked with Monique about the child’s behavior. Berry suggested to place security cameras, or “nanny cameras,” in the house to record the child's behavior.

Berry said she got a text message at around 5 p.m. on Sept. 1 from Monique saying that something was wrong with Emrik. She said that she reached the apartment at around 8:30 p.m., and that 911 was called when the child stopped responding. Before first responders arrived, Erik handed her the nanny cameras and asked her to hide them. Instead, Berry handed them to the police later. She said due to panic she forgot about the cameras while initially talking with the officers.

“I was still in shock,” Berry told the court.

The videos captured on the cameras were produced in court Wednesday. They showed the boy was forced to do physical exercises for hours in a row, including wall-sits and jumping jacks.

One video showed Emrik doing a wall-sit with Monique standing over him and threatening to beat him up.

Another video depicted Emrik doing a physical exercise in the kitchen before Erik appeared to hit the boy with a belt in the back of his head.

Another video showed Emrik asleep on the floor without a pillow or blankets. Waking him up, Monique appeared to grab him by the hair, pull him off the ground and force him into the kitchen. Later, she told him to do jumping jacks.

A testimony from Meridian Police Detective Matthew Ferronato revealed that Monique was reportedly furious with the child for drinking a glass of water meant for someone else.

“Next time I’ll put poison in a cup and put your name on it,” Monique was heard telling the child.

In one video, the child was being hit with a frying pan.

The child appeared malnourished in the video clips.

Detective Joseph Miller said Monique told him that she forced Emrik to do exercises for hours on end to “discipline” him.

The Osunas are currently 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.