ORANGE COUNTY, Fla. (WESH) — A man is accused of beating his father to death during a fight over a television.
According to an arrest report, Mario Tarabillo-Justiniano called 911 and said he had been involved in a fight with his father where he hit him in the face. The report says Tarabillo-Justiniano stated he did not know whether his father, Mario Enrique Tarabillo, was alive or dead.
When authorities arrived to the apartment on Urbana Drive, they detained Tarabillo-Justiniano.
Officials found Tarabillo on his back, covered in blood on a bedroom floor, dead.
Deputies say it appeared Tarabillo had been the victim of a severe beating, with blood on both of his hands and arms and injuries to his forehead.
Tarabillo-Justiniano was taken to the Orange County Sheriff’s Office and read his rights.
According to the report, Tarabillo-Justiniano said he brought his father to his home, where he was going to help him with a television.
Tarabillo-Justiniano said he told his father he wanted to buy a new set, but his father wanted to give him a new one, starting an argument between the pair, a report says.
The report says Tarabillo-Justiniano told authorities his father cursed at him and then tried to walk past him but he didn’t move, so his father hit him in the face once.
Tarabillo-Justiniano then told deputies he punched his father three to four times and put the older man in a chokehold and threw him to the ground, deputies say.
According to Tarabillo-Justiniano he tried to give his father chest compressions when he realized the man was not conscious.
Authorities say the injuries Tarabillo-Justiniano’s father had were “severe and gruesome,” and not consistent with being punched three to four times in self-defense, as the man said.
Tarabillo’s wife told authorities her husband was also in a weakened state because of a complication with a kidney transplant. He had been scheduled for surgery in around 30 days.
Deputies say Tarbillo’s death was caused by “an intentional act.”
Tarabillo-Justiniano is currently facing a charge of second-degree murder.