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A California mother whose 3-year-old daughter suffocated to demise throughout an exorcism to rid the kid of “an evil spirit” stated shortly earlier than her arrest that she was unhappy the lady had died however was grateful she wouldn’t need to dwell in a world the place “every part is simply so dangerous, like, every part simply going downhill.”
In a video posted to YouTube on Jan. 27, 2022 and unearthed by The Day by day Beast, Claudia Elisia Hernandez Santos, 25, informed viewers, “Like, I may sit right here and be destructive… be unhappy about the entire scenario that she handed away, but it surely’s like, there’s no level, you understand, as a result of it's what it's. It's what it's. You realize, she’s not right here with me, it's what it's, you understand? And it’s like, what’s the purpose, you understand? I’m simply gonna be… placing myself down when there’s no level for me to try this, you understand? Like, I can't change the previous.”
On Jan. 31, Hernandez was booked into the Santa Clara County jail on one felony rely of assault on a baby with power more likely to produce nice bodily harm leading to demise, based on detention information.
The beforehand unreported video of Hernandez discussing her daughter’s stunning demise is titled “Arely Naomi Proctor Hernandez,” and runs for practically 45 minutes. In it, Hernandez covers a variety of subjects associated to her late youngster however makes a particular level to not get into particulars of how she died.
“Folks may speak, however on the finish of the day, I do know what occurred,” she says. “God is aware of what occurred, and the people who had been there when she handed away is aware of what occurred.”
Nevertheless, based on an affidavit filed in Santa Clara County Superior Courtroom, the San Jose Police Division additionally has a reasonably good concept of what occurred. The costs in opposition to Hernandez will be traced again to Sept. 24, 2021, when Hernandez referred to as police shortly after 8 p.m. to report that her daughter was lifeless. When cops arrived on the Iglesia Apostoles y Profetas church, which is run out of a non-public residence in San Jose, they discovered little Arely unconscious on the ground, states the affidavit, which was first obtained by the NBC Bay Space Investigative Unit. After trying “life-saving measures,” Arely was pronounced lifeless at an space hospital about 45 minutes later, the affidavit says.
A preliminary post-mortem decided her demise to have been a murder, with asphyxia attributable to suffocation listed because the trigger. The pastor who allegedly carried out the lethal exorcism was recognized as Arely’s maternal grandfather. He has not been charged with a criminal offense and was unable to be reached for touch upon Tuesday. Santiago Garcia, the proprietor of the constructing the place the church is situated, hung up instantly when contacted by The Day by day Beast.
Officers on the scene “realized the suspects believed the kid was possessed by a demon they usually had been on the church praying for her,” the affidavit continues. “[Hernandez] supplied an announcement to a patrol officer stating the sufferer was possessed by an evil spirit. [Hernandez] acknowledged she tried to stay her finger down the sufferer’s throat and squeezed the sufferer’s neck to induce vomiting. The sufferer fell asleep a number of occasions whereas [Hernandez] pushed down on throat along with her hand.”
First responders noticed bruising across the youngster’s eyes, neck, and chest. Hernandez stated she and the others waited an hour or two earlier than calling 911, based on the affidavit. In follow-up interviews with investigators, Hernandez defined that she “started to consider [Arely] was possessed as a result of [she] would get up and scream or cry periodically,” the affidavit goes on. “Defendant and uncle prayed for [Arely] whereas within a bed room.”
At round 6:30 the following morning, Hernandez and her uncle drove Arely to Iglesia Apostoles y Profetas, nonetheless believing the lady was below demonic management. She informed police she held her daughter across the waist and neck to “assist her throw up, which she believed would assist her get the spirit out.” Alongside the best way, Hernandez’s father, the church’s pastor, confirmed as much as help. The three of them continued to try to induce vomiting, and finally Arely threw up “a transparent/purple liquid,” states the affidavit, citing Hernandez as saying she believed her daughter died someday between 6 and 6:30 p.m., some 12 hours after arriving on the church.
“The sufferer final ate on Thursday 9/23 round 9:00 p.m,” the affidavit says. “The sufferer was solely supplied about 6 oz of water from Thursday up till the time of her demise.”
Just a few days later, Hernandez arrange a GoFundMe marketing campaign to solicit donations for burial bills. Her Instagram profile’s description features a nod to “Isaias 55:8-11,” a Bible verse about discovering power throughout troublesome occasions.
Hernandez’s father, who isn't named within the affidavit however was recognized by the San Jose Mercury-Information as Rene Huezo, informed the outlet, “For those who learn the Bible, you’ll see that Jesus casts away demons and made sick folks wholesome once more… It’s not after I need to do it, it’s when God, in his will, desires to heal the individual. The preacher is like an instrument of God; what we do is what God says.”
Iglesia Apostoles y Profetas can be linked to a person arrested, together with two others, for allegedly kidnapping a child boy final month from his grandmother’s condo. In a video posted to the church’s YouTube channel, Baldemeo Sandoval, who's reportedly married to main suspect Yesenia Guadalupe Ramirez, will be seen delivering a sermon to parishioners in July 2020. Prosecutors later dropped the fees in opposition to Sandoval, however not these going through Ramirez and one other man, Jose Roman Portillo.
Prof. Allison Kavey, whose analysis focuses on the historical past of magic, science, and faith, informed The Day by day Beast that exorcisms have turn into more and more widespread over the past 5 to seven years in each america and Latin America.
“One of many challenges is that the Catholic Church has not been making ready monks to carry out exorcisms over the previous 100 years or so, so this demand isn't being met by people who find themselves certified,” stated Kavey, who teaches at New York Metropolis’s John Jay School of Legal Justice. “There's additionally some demand in evangelical church buildings, so the elevated demand comes from throughout the Christian spectrum.”
The thought of demonic possession is an historic one, stated Kavey, noting that a vary of cultural components current in in the present day’s society appear to be driving the demand for exorcisms: poverty, nervousness, and an absence of belief within the state and in drugs.
“When folks select a proof like demonic possession within the twenty first century, I believe we have to ask why,” Kavey continued. “And I've argued that when folks select a magical clarification or a supernatural clarification, it’s as a result of pure explanations usually are not satisfying. And often, meaning… the supernatural clarification is extra comforting to them as a result of it has no penumbra of blame or accountability.”
It's, clearly, very troublesome for a father or mother to simply accept that their youngster might be taken from them by a illness or sickness of some kind, and folks need to consider they'll do one thing to resolve an issue they may not totally perceive, based on Kavey.
“So we attribute these issues to issues which can be recognized unknowns, like God or demons, after which we attempt to remedy them by means of human intervention,” she stated.
Within the YouTube video she recorded earlier than her arrest, Hernandez shied away from detailing the occasions of Sept. 24 however fortunately recounted her being pregnant as a joyous part of her life.
Hernandez met her unnamed associate in 2016 and moved with him to a distinct state, she says within the clip. When she first thought she was pregnant, a house take a look at the couple purchased at Walgreens subsequently dashed their hopes.
“Like, I used to be so nervous, I didn’t know what to anticipate… however no matter, so I did what I needed to do,” she says. “We waited a minute… after which it got here out destructive. And I used to be, like, relieved at this however on the similar time, I used to be so unhappy… I used to be scared however I used to be excited to be a mother.”
They then determined to try to get pregnant, Hernandez explains, including that she got here down with an an infection throughout this course of and sought remedy on the hospital.
“We had been simply sitting there, they usually made me—you understand how they make you pee within the cup to see no matter it's, proper—so the nurse got here in and she or he was like, ‘Do you know you’re pregnant?’” Hernandez recalled. “And I used to be identical to, ‘What?!’ and I checked out him and he had the most important smile… After which she left and we had been simply, like, so excited… I wasn’t even ready, like, I made a decision to get pregnant and… I simply wished a child, that’s it.”
Though Hernandez stated within the video that Arely would “get up like 5 occasions an evening and it was so tiring,” she stated, “I might at all times inform her that I liked her… and simply made positive to indicate her a lot love… It’s so exhausting now, going from having her each day to not having her in any respect… To suppose that I’m not gonna see her develop up… however I do know she’s in a greater place.”
If convicted, Hernandez, who's being held with out bail, faces a sentence of 25 years to life. Her court-appointed lawyer didn't instantly reply to The Day by day Beast’s request for remark. Hernandez’s subsequent courtroom look is ready for June 13.