Man Beheads Son, Gets 30-Year Prison Term
A man who murdered his 14-year-old son and threw the boy’s head out the window of his van onto a highway was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in prison.
Eric Starr Smith, 36, pleaded no contest to charges that he murdered his son, Eric Smith Jr., two years ago. Witnesses said they saw Smith, who is from Arizona, stabbing his son and severing his head before tossing it out of his van.
Smith was reportedly high on drugs at the time and told police he killed the boy because he thought he and his younger brother, Larry, were possessed by the devil.
Larry, who was 13 at the time, ran to avoid being attacked.
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