Phoenix man remains jailed in ax killing of son A 51-year-old Phoenix man is being held on a $1 million bond after police say he killed his 13-year-old son with an ax. Gary Reagan Sherrill appeared before a judge Wednesday after being arrested on New Year's Eve. Officers say he told them he believed his son was a demon and was going to eat him. Police went to the Sherill's home and discovered the boy dead after getting a call from the boy's mother, Sherill's ex-wife. She said her husband failed to return their son to her after picking him up a day earlier, and she couldn't reach them. The boy was dead when police arrived. It's not immediately known whether Sherrill has a lawyer. I know that all the windows were blacked out with tin foil. I never saw the child playing whenever he was let out of the house.. he had a tight hold on him. In the beginning, I kind of thought he might be kidnapped," one neighbor told MyFoxPhoenix.com. Several neighbors reported seeing police respond to the home on several occasions leading up to the murder.