Father Accused of Beating 12-Year-Old Son to Death with Baseball Bat

• A Connecticut man is accused of beating his 12-year-old son to death with a baseball bat
• Anthony Andrew Esposito Jr., 52, was charged with murder with special circumstances and a criminal attempt to commit murder after the death of his son on May 1
• Esposito allegedly told police that he heard voices telling him not to let his son “get away with” disrespectful behavior

A Connecticut man is accused of beating his 12-year-old son to death with a baseball bat and attempting to kill his 16-year-old daughter.

According to a statement from police in Branford — located just east of New Haven — 52-year-old Anthony Andrew Esposito Jr. was charged with murder with special circumstances and a criminal attempt to commit murder after the death of his son on Thursday, May 1.

According to a police report obtained by The Hartford Courant and Stamford Advocate, police responded to a condo on Hemlock Road at around 4 p.m. local time after a woman called to say she believed that Esposito had killed someone in his home.

As police were on their way to the scene, they learned that Esposito had left the condo and was driving in his silver Chrysler Pacifica, the outlets reported.

Investigators who entered the unit found Esposito’s 12-year-old son on the ground of the basement with head trauma, and he was pronounced dead at 4:10 p.m. by a paramedic, per the report.

Connecticut State Police troopers then pulled Esposito over on the state’s Route 79 near the town line near Durham and Madison, per the outlets. He was taken to the North Branford Police Department for questioning. Initially, Esposito asked to speak to a North Haven police officer named “Jimmy,” and only spoke with investigators after being told that he would not be allowed to speak to “Jimmy,” according to the police report.

Esposito then told investigators that his son treated him “[disrespectfully]” and would use expletives with him, the outlets said. He also told police that he often heard voices in his head — those of his mother and father, whom he claimed abused him as a child. On May 1, the voices told him: “Don’t let him get away with [it].”

The 52-year-old said he heard the voices saying, “Baseball, baseball bat.” He said he picked up the bat and began swinging it, hitting his son in the back of the head, according to detectives.

Esposito told investigators that he then needed to pick up his 16-year-old daughter from a bus stop, and the two had an “uneventful ride home,” per the report. When they arrived home, his daughter asked about his son, and Esposito told her that he was in the basement. As they walked toward the staircase, he then purposefully pushed his daughter, causing her to fall near where his son’s body was.

The police report states that Esposito told investigators that if he had been able to get the baseball bat, he likely would have killed his daughter, but she escaped the basement, the Advocate reported. At that point, he got in his car and left.

Want to keep up with the latest crime coverage? Sign up for PEOPLE’s free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases.

The Courant reported that police also seized body camera footage from Esposito’s traffic stop, which allegedly shows him admitting to the murder.

Esposito was arraigned on Friday, May 2. A judge said during the hearing that he may face life in prison without the possibility of parole because of the “horrendous nature of the allegations,” per the Advocate.

Esposito’s murder charge was enhanced with “special circumstances” because the victim was under 16, the outlets reported.

Esposito’s public defender claimed during the hearing that he has experienced mental health issues for most of his life and has been hospitalized for treatment multiple times, per ABC News. The attorney also said that Esposito has not been on medication and asked that he be placed under a suicide watch while in prison.

In their statement, police said they were working with the local public school district “to ensure that grief counselors and support resources are available to students and staff who may be affected by this heartbreaking loss.”

“Our thoughts and prayers are with the victim’s family, friends and all those impacted in our community,” police added.

 Esposito is being held on a $3,000,000 bond.

If you or someone you know needs mental health help, text “STRENGTH” to the Crisis Text Line at 741-741 to be connected to a certified crisis counselor.

If you suspect child abuse, call the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child or 1-800-422-4453, or go to www.childhelp.org. All calls are toll-free and confidential. The hotline is available 24/7 in more than 170 languages.