According to the DA, a Duxbury man was convicted of killing his father by “baptizing” him in a local pond after the son allegedly saw the “demon” in his father’s eyes.
The Plymouth district attorney’s office said Thursday that Jack Callahan, 22, had been convicted guilty of involuntary manslaughter.
Callahan was charged with one count of murder after the fatal incident occurred in the middle of the night on June 28, 2021, at the age of 19. His father, Scott Callahan, 57, was discovered underwater in Crocker Park’s Island Creek Pond.
Prior to the drowning, the boy apparently picked up his father in Boston and took a ride-share back to Duxbury, stopping at the park. According to the DA, the father and son engaged in a “physical altercation” at this location.
Then, around 2 a.m., Duxbury police were called to the family residence, where they discovered the teen “acting erratically.” Callahan was allegedly “distraught and hyperventilating.”
Police and firefighters hurried to the pond, where they discovered his father submerged in water. EMS performed life-saving procedures before transporting him to Beth Israel Deaconess Hospital in Plymouth, where he was pronounced dead.
Detectives eventually discovered that Callahan repeatedly submerged his father underwater, “claiming he was ‘baptizing’ his father because he saw the ‘demon’ in his eyes.”
The state Office of the Chief Medical Examiner ruled that the cause of death was drowning and the method was homicide. The father suffered from waterlogged lungs and a head abrasion.
Callahan’s trial lasted eight days, and the jury pondered for almost 25 hours before convicting him of involuntary manslaughter.
Sentencing is planned for May 3.