11-year-old boy dies after parents force him to drink too much water, Colorado cops say
When 11-year-old Zachary Sabin’s father went to wake him up on the morning of March 11, he found the boy foaming from his mouth with blood on his bed, The Gazette reported.
The night before, according to an arrest affidavit out of El Paso County, Colorado, Zachary’s father, Ryan Sabin, and his stepmother Tara Sabin, had forced him to drink four 24-ounce bottles of water in four hours without eating, KXRM reported.
The father found the boy dead, in a urine-soaked diaper, about 6:15 a.m., according to the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, The Gazette reported.
On June 9, after the El Paso County Coroner’s Office ruled that Zachary died of forced water intoxication, or poisoning from drinking too much water, warrants were issued for his father and stepmother, KXRM reported.
Ryan Sabin, 41, and Tara Sabin, 42, turned themselves in to the El Paso County Jail that same day, and face charges of first-degree murder, child abuse resulting in death and six counts of misdemeanor child abuse, according to KXRM. The two remain in jail without bond, according to the El Paso County Sheriff.
According to the arrest affidavit, authorities say that Zachary’s five siblings — ages 2 to 15 — were also victims of abuse, media outlets report.
“Everyone is going to see how truly sad this case is,” Kat Huston, a detective with the El Paso County Sheriff’s Office, told KXRM.
Zachary’s autopsy showed that he also had blood on his left eyebrow and forehead and bruises on his head, arms, shin and buttocks, The Gazette reported. The night before he died, the arrest affidavit says the 11-year-old began throwing up, feeling pain in his legs, became nonverbal and drowsy before his parents put him to bed, according to The Gazette.
“I will never be able to cuddle my Zach-aroni ever again. I will miss my Zach attack’s sweet nature, I will never be able to hear his contagious laugh,” Angela Tuetken, Zachary’s mother, told WTRF. “This is by far the hardest thing I’ve ever had to endure in my life.”
The state’s Department of Human Services, which deals with child abuse and neglect, received reports about the Sabins before Zachary’s death, The Gazette reported. A spokeswoman for the agency told The Gazette it had not completed a review of the case.
Tara Sabin told investigators that Zachary had a hereditary condition that caused him to wet the bed, The Gazette reported. The Sabins made Zachary drink at least 64 ounces of water a day, Tara told investigators, according to multiple media reports.
The night before Zachary died, he threw a “tantrum,” the Sabins told investigators, and he would throw up as he tried to sip water, according to the arrest affidavit, The Gazette reported. The affidavit states that he complained about pain in his feet and legs and fell to the floor, according to reports.
Ryan Sabin told detectives that he kicked Zachary “a few times” as he laid on the floor, according to KXRM. One of the five other children in the home told investigators he saw Zachary throw up at least 10 times throughout the night, according to The Gazette.
“We are people too and a lot of us are parents as well, so any death is important to investigate fully, and to bring justice to the victims,” Huston said, according to KXRM. “I think that whenever it’s a child, it hits a little bit harder for us.”
Ryan Sabin is a Sgt. 1st Class in the U.S. Army assigned to Fort Carson near Colorado Springs and Tara works as an advocate for victims of domestic violence and sexual assault with TESSA, a Colorado Springs nonprofit, KXRM reported. The company placed her on unpaid administrative leave, TESSA told KXRM.
The five other children who lived with the Sabins have been removed from the home, according to KXRM.
“No parents should ever have to bury their child,” said Tuetken, Zachary’s mother, according to WTRF.
