A Germantown mother has pleaded guilty to killing two of her children and stabbing her two older children during an exorcism in 2014.
Zakieya Avery, 31years old, dabbed her eyes with a tissue as Montgomery County prosecutors described what a judge called a “gruesome and chilling” attack in court on Monday, as she pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.
Avery and housemate Monifa Sanford told investigators that they believed evil spirits had moved between the bodies of the children, ages 1 and 2, and that is why exorcism was needed to drive out the demons.
Psychiatrist Neil Blumberg, testifying for the defense, said that Avery was not criminally responsible for her actions at the time. The psychiatric evaluation performed at Clifton T. Perkins Hospital, Maryland’s psychiatric hospital, was inconclusive.
Prosecutor Peter Feeney read an 18-page description of the horrific attacks on Avery’s children that caused some of her family members to cry, gasp and leave the courtroom.
Avery’s youngest child, 1-year-old Norell, was stabbed more than 20 times by his mother, while Sanford spoke in tongues and “laid hands” on the boy.
Her daughter Zyana, 2, was choked and stabbed to death, although it is unclear which woman stabbed her.
Two older children 8 years old son, Martello, and 5 years old daughter, Taniya , begged their mother to stop, before each was stabbed in the chest.
As her son yelled to his mother, she told the boy, “These are the sort of demons that can get inside of you.” Martello and Taniya survived the attacks.
According to prosecutors, after the intended exorcism, the women cleaned up the scene and “prepared the children to see God,” .
After considering Avery’s guilty pleas, the judge heard testimony from a childhood friend of Avery’s, who recalled that Avery’s mother testified that she had her daughter involuntarily committed to an institution when she was “manic and suicidal.”
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By Prakriti Neogi
