A Massachusetts man was convicted of involuntary manslaughter Thursday in the drowning death of his father, who died during an attempted exorcism in 2021.
Jack Callahan, 22, was found guilty on one count of involuntary manslaughter after an eight-day trial and about 25 hours of jury deliberations, Plymouth County prosecutor Timothy Cruz said.
On June 28, 2021, then-19-year-old Jack Callahan allegedly went to Boston to pick up his father, Scott, who had noted substance abuse issues, from a bar. The two men had then taken a rideshare home together, which dropped them off at a park. After some time, the two of them got in a fight, and it was then that things turned ugly.
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“Jack Callahan allegedly began submerging his father under the water several times claiming he was ‘baptizing’ his father because he saw the ‘demon’ in his eyes. Jack continued to submerge his father’s head until Scott Callahan no longer fought back or floated,” a spokesperson for the Plymouth County District Attorney’s Office said in a release.
Responding police officers found the younger Callahan “distraught and hyperventilating” around 2 a.m. His father was submerged in the pond and later pronounced dead at a nearby hospital.
The chief medical examiner ruled 57-year-old Scott Callahan’s death a homicide by drowning in 2021, and Jack Callahan was arraigned on a murder charge. The Boston Globe reported that Callahan had told police he was giving his father a chance to choose between heaven and hell.
“I believe he chose hell,” Callahan reportedly told officers.
His sentencing is set for May 3.
