Child Exorcism Killings: Mom Pleads Guilty to Murder

GERMANTOWN, MD — A Germantown mother and leader of a "Demon Assassins" group pleaded guilty to murder Monday at the start of her trial in Montgomery County Circuit Court for stabbing two of her children to death during a 2014 exorcism.

Zakieya Avery and her roommate, Monifa Sanford, were both accused of killing Avery's youngest two children on Jan. 17, 2014. When interviewed by police, Avery and her roommate, Monifa Sanford, reportedly described seeing the children’s eyes blacken as demons entered their bodies, jumping from one child to the next. They claimed the exorcism was needed to cast out the demons.

On Jan. 17, police discovered the bodies of a 1-year-old and a 2-year-old in the master bedroom of the women's Germantown townhouse. Avery's other two children — then ages 5 and 8 — were severely wounded but survived the attack.

Avery was charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder. Her attorneys have argued that she was not mentally competent at the time of the stabbings. If a judge agrees, Avery could be sent to a psychiatric hospital. But if she’s found to be sane, she could face four consecutive life sentences, reports WTOP.

Police said Avery and Sanford met through Exousia Ministries in Germantown.

Both Avery and Sanford were sent to Clifton T. Perkins Hospital in Jessup, for psychological tests after their arrest. In April 2014, Sanford, who was charged with same offenses, entered a plea of not criminally responsible, which is basically pleading insanity at the time of the crime, prosecutors said. She has since been confined to the state mental hospital.

Sanford was a professed member of a group called “Demon Assassins,” which police say was led by Avery.

Patch’s Earlier Stories:

• Roommate Charged in ‘Exorcism’ Killings Transferred to Maximum Security Hospital
  
• Mother to Undergo Psychiatric Evaluation, Held Without Bond in Toddlers' Death
  
• Police: Children Killed in Attempted 'Exorcism'
  

The night before the attack, Avery and Sanford put the children in a car parked outside their home while they prepared the exorcism, NBC Washington reports. A neighbor later called police after noticing the children and having a strange encounter with Avery. Officers who went to the house could not get anyone to come to the door and contacted Child Protective Services.

After their arrests, the women told detectives that they tried several ways to remove the presence of demons from the children, first by attempting to break the neck of the youngest child, and then strangulation, and finally stabbing.

»Photos of Zakieya Avery, left, and Monifa Sanford, courtesy of Montgomery County Police