Boy, 7, died after being ‘buried in snow for failing to memorise Bible verses’

A seven-year-old boy in the US died after being beaten and buried in snow as a punishment for failing to memorise Bible verses, according to a police report.

Ethan Hauschultz, from Newton, Wisconsin, was taken to hospital on 20 April last year by his legal guardians, Timothy Hauschultz and Tina McKeever-Hauschultz, where he was pronounced dead.

A coroner’s report found that he died from hypothermia and blunt force trauma to his head, chest and abdomen.

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In 2017, the boy and his siblings were placed in the care of the Hauscultz family, who are relatives of their birth parents, where they were allegedly subjected to frequent extreme physical punishments by Timothy Hauschulz, local news station WBAY reports.

The children told investigators they “were required to carry wood every day for two hours for not knowing their Bible verses” and were allowed to “take a five-second rest after each lap” of the yard.

According to court documents, Timothy Hauschulz told detectives “he believed carrying wood was an appropriate form of punishment as he got in trouble in the past for striking a child”.

A 15-year-old boy is also implicated in the death. Documents filed with the court say that the then-14-year-old “allegedly hit, kick, struck and poked Ethan about 100 times – sometimes using a belt or a stick”, Fox News reports.

He also allegedly rolled a log, which weighed approximately 40lb (18kg), over Ethan’s chest and later “stood on his body and head while Ethan was face-down in a puddle”.

The teenager told detectives when Ethan became unresponsive after between an hour and 90 minutes of punishment, “he thought the boy was just resisting, so he buried him under what he estimated was 80 pounds of packed snow and ice”, WBAY reports.

All three have been arrested and are set to appear in court today, according to the Manitowoc Herald Times.

The 15-year-old is charged with first-degree reckless homicide, physical abuse of a child intentionally causing bodily harm, and substantial battery.

Timothy Hauschultz faces six charges, including being party to felony murder, while his wife is charged with failing to act to prevent bodily harm to a child and contributing to the delinquency of a child resulting in death.