A Phoenix man killed his 13-year-old son with an axe on New Year's Eve after claiming a demon was inside of him, ABC News reported.
Authorities learned of the frightening incident after Gary Sherrill, 51, did not return his son, David, to his ex-wife's home on Tuesday.
Police eventually arrived at Sherrill's home and began questioning him. According to Phoenix police Sgt. Steve Martos, officers were eventually let inside his home and quickly found David's dead body.
"Once inside, they located the 13-year-old male victim, David Sherrill, deceased with obvious signs of trauma," Martos said. "Sadly, the victim sustained stab wounds and lacerations to several parts of his body."
He also discussed Sherrill's motive.
"(He) stated he was scared of his son and believed his son was a demon and was going to eat him," Martos said in a press release.
Some of Sherrill's neighbors claim he had been acting odd recently.
"He had been screaming at a tree the other day," said Davina West.
A second unidentified neighbor said family drama was not uncommon.
"The parents were arguing, the mom was on the street, the dad was up by the apartment and the child was in the middle," she said.
Sherrill admitted to killing his son to homicide detectives and was eventually booked in jail on the charge of first-degree murder.
