PHOENIX » 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. He had stab wounds and lacerations to several parts of his body.

It’s not immediately known whether Sherrill has a lawyer.