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PROVO — A Provo man strangled his father during an argument, then attempted to break his neck before hiding his body in a deep freezer, police say.
It wasn't the first altercation between the father and son. Omar Carmona, 27, faced previous charges for threatening his father with a razor blade, fueled by suspected drug use and mental health issues, according to court documents.
The body of Marco Carmona, 57, was found in a freezer Thursday in his mobile home, 1942 W. 450 North No. 86, after family members had reported him missing.
Omar Carmona told police he and his father were arguing Wednesday "because his father did not believe him when he told his father that someone could break into the home and hurt him while he was taking a shower," according to a police affidavit filed in 4th District Court.
As they drew closer, Carmona wrapped his arm around his father's throat and the two tumbled to the ground, the affidavit states. The older man struggled, leaving scratch marks on his son's chest and back.
Police say Carmona estimated he held his father there for 20 minutes before letting go.
Omar Carmona was "afraid of going back to jail so he grabbed a white towel and put it around his father's neck and tried to break his neck," the affidavit states.
The man then moved his father's body to a deep freezer in the living room and plugged it in, according to the affidavit. He took money from his father's wallet and truck, turned off and hid his father's cellphone, and cleaned up evidence from the struggle, police said.
"He also went to the truck of his father and took the money out of the truck to buy soda," the affidavit states.
Marco Carmona's body was found Thursday after his wife called police to report him missing. Omar Carmona was booked into the Utah County Jail Thursday for investigation of murder, theft and obstruction of justice.
Omar Carmona was charged in November of 2014 with aggravated kidnapping, a first-degree felony, and aggravated assault, a third-degree felony, after threatening his father with a razor blade. Carmona accepted a plea in abeyance to the aggravated assault charge, which was adjudicated in mental health court, while the kidnapping charge was dismissed, according to court records.
The case was adjudicated in 4th District Mental Health Court, which was launched in 2004 as a way to enforce treatment of the mental health issues underlying criminal acts and prevent jail overcrowding, according to the court's website.
"Based on the premise that these individuals act out criminally secondary to their mental illness, mental health courts embrace a 'therapeutic justice' stance geared toward enforcing mental health treatment and medication compliance," the website states.
Failure to comply with the program will transfer the case to a traditional court.
Omar Carmona graduated from Mental Health Court on June 15, 2015. With the plea came an agreement that a possible corresponding sentence would be held in abeyance for two years, meaning it could take effect if he violated laws in the future.
Deputy Utah County attorney Sam Pead said Friday he remembers the day Carmona graduated from Mental Health Court, backed by congratulations from him, the judge and his assigned social worker.
Carmona had successfully completed all the requirements of the program, Pead said, including checks that he was complying with his prescribed medications, classes about decision-making, support groups, meetings with a social worker and attendance at court hearings.
Omar Carmona blocked the door and pushed his father to prevent him from leaving the room, then pulled the blade from his pocket. - Affidavit
"We love to see people succeed in that, so I don't think he gamed the system at all," Pead said. "I just think that for whatever reason he didn't continue to, and this is complete speculation, maybe he didn't continue to use the tools; maybe he didn't take his medications. I don't know."
In the 2014 case, police responded to an argument between the father and son at a home in Springville. Omar Carmona was holding a retractable razor blade to the older man's throat, according to a police affidavit filed in court. When Omar Carmona answered the door for police, he had the blade in hand, the report states.
Marco Carmona told an officer his son "has mental health issues and is a regular drug user, which make his mental state unpredictable," the affidavit states. The senior Carmona believed his son had been up all night and possibly using drugs. When he went to his son's bedroom to talk about his concerns, Carmona locked his father in the room with him and became increasingly upset, according to police.
Carmona blocked the door and pushed his father to prevent him from leaving the room, then pulled the blade from his pocket, the affidavit states. Marco Carmona fled to the other side of the room and was trying to keep a bed between the two of them.
The father told police his son was making a move toward him with the razor when officers knocked and Omar Carmona left to answer the door.
Police had responded to several previous calls related to Omar Carmona and were "aware of Omar's mental health history," according to the affidavit. Carmona initially resisted putting down the razor, denied threatening his father and told police he didn't understand why they had been called, the report states.
After his son's arrest, it was Marco Carmona who told prosecutors he wanted a treatment option rather than traditional criminal charges for his son, Pead said.
At the time, "it worked great," the prosecutor said. "I don't think we second-guessed that at all, either (the father's) recommendation for that or decision to do that."
However, no court program or treatment option is going to yield perfect or permanent results, he noted.
"I think sometimes that structure and the scrutiny of the regular meetings with the court and making sure that people are in compliance helps people obey the law, for lack of a better word of describing that, but I can't speculate as to what led to this," Pead said.
Contributing: Keith McCord
