A 28-year-old man in California is charged with the “gruesome” murder of his 1-year-old son, allegedly using a knife to decapitate the child after an argument with his wife and mother-in-law.
Andrey Demskiy was arrested on Friday and charged with one count of murder, assault with force likely to cause great bodily injury, and corporal injury to a spouse or cohabitant, according to records reviewed by Law&Crime.
According to a news release from the Sacramento County Sheriff’s Office, deputies responded to a residence in the 7500 block of Versailles Way on December 20 at 4:15 a.m. for a reported “family disturbance.”
When first responders arrived at the scene, they spoke with an adult female outside the residence who identified herself as Demskiy’s wife. The wife informed deputies that Demskiy had just assaulted her and her mother.
Emergency medical personnel took the wife’s mother to a hospital for treatment of injuries that were described as “non-life-threatening.”
Deputies say they then attempted to contact Demskiy, who was still at the home. When they knocked on the door, he refused to answer and instead “surrendered peacefully.”
“A short time later, Deputies learned that a one-year-old male child was inside the residence alone with Demskiy, and that Demskiy had possibly injured the child after throwing him,” reads the release.
“Fearing for the child’s safety, deputies forced their way into the house and attempted to detain Demskiy, who became uncooperative and physically resistant. As deputies were taking Demskiy into custody, they discovered a severed child’s head in the bedroom where he was contacted and detained.”
Detectives from the sheriff’s Child Abuse Bureau, which typically investigates murders involving children, were contacted and arrived on the scene to take over the investigation.
Following a preliminary investigation, detectives discovered that Demskiy had been “involved in a domestic violence incident with his wife and mother-in-law,” which prompted the 911 call. After making the call, both women left the house and waited outside for deputies to arrive.
“Once they exited the residence, Demskiy used a knife to behead and murder his one-year-old son,” the police claimed.
Demskiy was taken into custody and booked into the Sacramento County Main Jail. He is currently held in detention without bond. The defendant is scheduled to appear before a judge on Tuesday.
Amar Gandhi, a sheriff’s office spokesperson, told Sacramento NBC affiliate KCRA that deputies who responded to the scene were “visibly shaken,” calling it “one of the most horrific things” he had ever witnessed.
“There’s no rationale, nothing I can say,” Gandhi told KTVU, an Oakland Fox affiliate. “I have three kids, I know the deputies here are all parents themselves — it’s evil.”
The victim was identified as Micah Demskiy on a GoFundMe page. The page was created to assist the boy’s mother in organizing memorial and funeral arrangements. The mother is currently unemployed and needs to relocate, according to the GoFundMe page.
“The sweet little boy was a kind and joyful soul, loving all people and especially dogs,” according to the biography. “His kind heart and beautiful smile touched everyone he met. He loved his family, especially his mother. He enjoyed being with his family, going to the park, and singing hymns with them.”
