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In 2021, a three-year-old girl named Arely Naomi Proctor died on the altar of the Iglesia Evangelica Apostoles y Profetas church in San Jose, California.
First responders reported that there were signs she had been tortured for 12 hours.
Medical examiners later determined that she died of mechanical asphyxia and smothering.
Prosecutors say Arely was killed by members of her own family, several of whom have been in police custody ever since.
The victim’s mother, Claudia Elisa Hernandez, 29, allegedly told police that she believed her daughter was possessed.
Arely’s uncle, Rene “Aaron” Hernandez Santos, 23, and grandfather Rene Trigueros Hernandez, 63, allegedly participated and provided the same motive when questioned by police.
According to CBS News, one church official stated that the Hernandezes were attempting to “liberate her of her evil spirits.”
All three were charged with felony assault on a child causing death. The district attorney in the case has requested a punishment of 25 years to life for each suspect.
“[Hernandez] strangled her multiple times to the point where the victim went unconscious, she stuck her hands down her throat, and continued this course of conduct for almost a full day,” prosecutors allege.
Now, according to KRON news, the suspects have filed a joint motion to have their case dismissed under the terms of California’s Racial Justice Act (RJA).
The family allegeds that police and prosecutors showed bias toward them because of their religious faith, ethnic identity, and national origin.
The Hernansezes say that they were practicing their faith as Salvadoran Pentecostals, and that they have “an absolute belief in divine, supernatural intervention.”
The suspects claim that the exorcism was overseen by the pastor of their church, Trigueros Hernandez.
They say the pastor has safely performed numerous exorcisms in the past, and that he once saw a crocodile 12 to 18 inches long emerge from a woman after he prayed over her for six hours.
Just days before her arrest, Arely’s mother posted a YouTube video in which she stated, “Like, I could sit here and be negative… be sad about the whole situation that she passed away, but it’s like, there’s no point, you know, because it is what it is.”
We will have further updates on this developing story as new information becomes available.
