Cult Leader Sentenced To 99 Years In Starvation Death of Young Boy

Dallas Morning News reports that a Texas jury last Friday sentenced 52-year old Aracely Meza-- the religious leader of a church known as Iglesia Internacional Jesus es el Rey-- to 99 years in prison and a $10,000 fine in the 2015 starvation death of a 2-year old boy.  Meza had ordered food to be withheld from the boy in order to exorcise the demon of manipulation that she believed possessed him.  The boy and his family lived on a commune run by Meza, who claims to be a prophet. When the boy died, his parents were afraid to report the death to police because they were undocumented aliens from Mexico.  With Meza, they took the boy for burial back to Mexico, where the parents remain.

Two Women Charged With Murder After Purported Exorcism

In Germantown, Maryland, two women have been charged with first degree murder and attempted murder in the fatal stabbing of two children (ages 1 and 2) and the serious wounding of two others (ages 5 and 8) while attempting to perform an exorcism Thursday night or Friday morning. According to yesterday's  Washington Post, one of the women charged is the children's mother (28 year old Zakieya Avery) and the other is a 21 year old woman (Monifa Sanford) who lived with the family. Police said that the women saw the enemy as the Devil and were trying to release something bad they believed was affecting the children.