BENTON COUNTY, Ark. (KNWA/KFTA) – Mauricio Torres, the man who has been on trial for the murder of his 6-year-old son on a weekend camping trip in 2015, was found guilty Thursday of capital murder.

The jury deliberated for about four hours in the Benton County circuit court. Torres had already been convicted on two separate occasions for the murder of his son, Isaiah. The first was overturned by the Arkansas Supreme Court due to a technicality. The second was declared a mistrial after Torres’ stepson jumped out of the witness stand and attempted to attack Torres.

Criminal Defense Attorney, Adam Rose, said he had never seen a jury in a capital murder case make a decision so quickly, when so much evidence was presented. Because of that, he thinks the sentencing will go just as quickly.

“I believe that they will give the death penalty, given the overwhelming amount of evidence and the fact that the defendant has simply lied so many times,” said Rose.

According to Rose, going to trial a third time in cases like Torres’ is rare. He said a fourth trial is unlikely. As long as nobody overreacts and gets emotional, like in Torres’ second trial, Rose expects the sentencing phase to go smoothly.

However, that doesn’t mean that a fourth trial can’t happen.

“It’s still possible to have a mistrial on this case if you have another reaction like that, but I’m sure the state is preparing all of its witnesses,” said Rose.

As for the jury’s verdict, Rose said Torres taking the stand most likely didn’t help the defense.

“I believe the inconsistency of his testimony really weighed heavily with the jurors. I believe that that made him look like a liar, which I believe was not good for their case.” said Rose “So my guess is the defense probably advised their client not to testify, but I believe he probably chose to anyways,” said Rose.

Rose mentioned it’s not normal for a defendant’s testimony to change so frequently. Since this case has been going on for a few years, testimony in previous trials has been used again. The jury has been able to hear hours of previous interviews.

Two of the witnesses for the prosecution were Isaiah’s teachers. They said they took pictures of the abuse and reported it, but nothing ever came of it. While we don’t know which organizations they reported the abuse to, Melanie Halbrook with the Children’s Advocacy Center of Benton County, said it can help to report to multiple organizations.

“We always encourage the community when they report abuse to call the child abuse Arkansas hotline, as well as to report to local law enforcement. A lot of times that can help kind of be an extra safety net,” said Halbrook.

Halbrook added that many children are too scared to report their abuse, and it comes down to community members taking action.

As for the jury’s verdict, Halbrook was glad to see justice served.

“It just kind of fuels us and lets us know that there’s more fight to happen and more children that we need to protect in our community,” said Halbrook.

Sentencing is expected to start for Torres on Friday.