Mother charged in killings of two toddlers thought she was performing an exorcism

[alp227]

Source: Washington Post

A Germantown mother and another woman accused of killing two toddlers and injuring two other children believed they were performing an exorcism, Montgomery County police said Saturday.

Police found the children Friday morning when they were called to 28-year-old Zakieya L. Avery’s townhouse by a neighbor who became concerned after seeing a knife, what appeared to be blood and a car with an open door outside the home. Officers took the keys from the car and entered the home.

Avery, the mother of all four children, was holding or near one of the youngsters when officers came in, police said. She bolted out the back door of the Cherry Bend Drive home but was quickly captured. A second woman who lived there, Monifa Sanford, 21, was found with minor injuries.

Police on Saturday said both women had been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Read more: http://www.washingtonpost.com/local/crime/mother-charged-with-murder-in-killings-of-two-toddlers/2014/01/18/8dfe3bc4-804a-11e3-95c6-0a7aa80874bc_story.html

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Published nationally by the AP as well.

[Solly Mack]

1. Damn

[TDale313]

2. How horrible.

Hope the two older children are ok. How sad and senseless.

[Faygo Kid]

3. Poor kids never had a chance.

I live in Silver Spring. This is too close not to be affected.

[RainDog]

4. We need mental health care funding n/t

[mbperrin]

5. Not so mentally ill as to bolt for the door and away from the cops.

I never can understand why children are paying the price for all the screwed up adults in the world.

[KinMd]

6. Gimme that ol' time religion

[SkyDaddy7]

9. Exactly!

[ReRe]

7. This is what happens to a society which....

... lets it's mentally ill run loose untreated and uncared for. Another thing is the ignorance we allow. And poverty probably plays a part too. We can not call ourselves civilized.
Poor innocent children in the care of such people. This incident rips my heart out.

[Heather MC]

10. Poverty has nothing to do with it. Remember Creig Deeds Son

I doubt he was poor when he stabbed his father and shot himself. Our society is definately lacking in proper Mental healthcare for all, no matter their economic situation

[ReRe]

11. I do remember Craig Deeds son...

... but I have this little apparatus in my mind that functions like a "balance scale". I guarantee you there are more poor and lower middle class folks who need mental health services and don't have access to it than folks in the upper middle class. Yes, everyone is at risk, as in the Craig Deeds case. Yes, people of all socioeconomic levels have mental illness, but I hope you understand what I am saying.

[Heather MC]

12. Yes I Understand. It is a problem for all.

I had a neighbor who I watched suffer with her mental illness for years. She had insurance but every time she had an episode, she got sent to a different hospital in the area, different dr.s different treatment, different meds.

Every hospital just pumped her full of drugs until she could be sent home. There didn't seem to be any continuity in her treatment.

I do believe Bipolar disorder is running rampant in the black community and goes undiagnosis way more than in any other community. Which is why a generalized stereotype of black women, is "the angry black woman" that will go off on any one at the drop of a hat.

And of course a mentally ill black man is a thousand times more likely to shot by the police.

However, I feel like the problem is a problem for all not just one section of society. We need to eliminate the negative stigmatism that mentally ill people have to deal with. In order to start reassuring people that getting help is ok and not an embarassment.

[ReRe]

14. Exactly...

... and I think Medicare for all would help a ton, plus a real Democrat in the White House and a real Democratic majority in the House and Senate. This country needs to be fixed, GD'it! Let's close some military bases and turn them into Mental Health Centers. Add an extra wing onto every regional hospital for treatment of the mentally ill. Think of all the jobs this one project could bring with it! Two birds with one stone!!!
It's time, Heather. It's time. The tearing down of this country has gone on long enough!

[EC]

8. Wow, just last week-end

the history channel (I think H2)had their show on exorcism...makes me wonder what these women were watching on TV last week-end.

[LiberalLovinLug]

13. When the Christian invented God is spoken of as fact

by everyone including sports figures, the media personalities, and the President himself, instead of presented as a religious figure that some believe is messianic, this is what happens. Christianity is presented as fact in America. How many times do we hear about someone having "faith" and just accepting that as the norm? It is bad enough for a healthy person to grow up in this environment to be taken advantage of by televangelists and politicians pretending to be religious to get elected, but when you have mental disorders you are even more susceptible.