Deadly Arizona Exorcism: Bloodied Mom 'Casts' Demons From 3-Year-Old

by Mike Baron

A deadly exorcism in Arizona has left one man dead, and a 19-year-old mother facing possible charges after trying to cast demons from her 3-year-old daughter.

A Grandfather and the 19-year-old mother of 3-year-old little girl tried to "squeeze the demons out of the child", according to the family.

Police were called after neighbors to the 19-year-old mother and her family heard "blood-curdling" screams from the home. Once police arrived at the home, they found the grandfather, mother and child covered in blood, and the grandfather had the 3-year-old girl in a headlock. The mother was found "naked and chanting" while bleeding from the mouth.

Police tasered the grandfather after he refused to release the little girl of a headlock. He died later at a hospital. The little girl is currently being treated at a hospital, and police believe she may have been a victim of other forms of abuse.

According to family, the grandfather was a very superstitious man, and the mother is very religious.

Fatal end to exorcism attempt
Man dies after struggle with police checking on girl's welfare
Elias C. Arnold
The Arizona Republic
Jul. 29, 2007 10:35 PM

A 48-year-old Phoenix man whom authorities say was choking his 3-year-old granddaughter during an exorcism early Saturday died after struggling with police officers who went into the home to investigate, Phoenix police said.

Police reportedly found Ronald Marquez, of Phoenix, shirtless and choking his granddaughter as her 19-year-old mother, naked and bloody, looked on. The bloodied girl was gasping and screaming as her mother chanted and held a religious picture of some kind, police said.

"It's very bizarre, (a) very unusual and pretty horrific situation this young child was involved in," said Sgt. Joel Tranter, a Phoenix police spokesman.

Police responded about 7:30 a.m. to a check-welfare call at a house in the 2200 block of North 28th Street, north of McDowell Road.

A relative reported she thought an exorcism was going on at the family home after one was performed two days earlier, police said.

Police said officers heard yelling from outside the house, gained entry through a back door and rushed to a bedroom.

Two officers forced the door open slightly to find Marquez sitting on a bed blocking the door, police said.

The man held the girl in a headlock with one arm as he was squeezing her torso with his other arm, causing her to gasp and scream, police said.

Investigators later learned the man was trying to "squeeze the demons out of the young girl," Tranter said.

One officer made his way into the room, confronted Marquez and touched him with a Taser, which apparently had no effect.

A second officer followed. The officers managed to free the girl, and handed her out the door to a family member.

An officer touched Marquez with the Taser a second time and eventually handcuffed him, police said.

Marquez soon developed shortness of breath and officers performed CPR until medical crews arrived.

Marquez was pronounced dead at the hospital

Police are investigating the incident.

Autopsy results are not expected for several weeks, Tranter said.

Tranter declined to identify the girl's mother because she was not arrested.

The girl also was not identified. She is expected to recover.

http://www.postchronicle.com/news/original/article_21294927.shtml


Yet another religious asshole going berzerk. I hope you die, dumb overzealous cunt.

It sounds like he already did

The word "cunt" indicates to me that he was speaking about the mother, not the grandfather. Lost in translation, babe.

I interpreted the bleeding from the mouth as maybe the mother not being that much of an enthusiastic participant.

I don't know, she is a 19 year-old girl, naked with a bloody mouth and cowering on the floor. She was also not arrested. Innocent until proven guilty? She wasn't even charged and yet she is already condemned as a cunt...

America, fuck yeah!

This is our country.

Article said she was very religious. Probably thought her baby throwing up = the devil. Fucking dumbass was in on it probably.

I believe the article stated that she was sitting on a bed that was blocking the doorway. It would appear that she was a participant in some way, or at the least her inaction contributed.

The bloodied girl was gasping and screaming as her mother chanted and held a religious picture of some kind, police said.

Two officers forced the door open slightly to find Marquez sitting on a bed blocking the door, police said.

Wow.

The police must be amazingly stupid then. All this evidence and no arrest.

Did you read the article? They arrested the guy doing the strangling after tasering him twice, and he died. The girl was apparently just chanting and holding a picture.

Yeah, I read the article. You are convicting her based on circumstantial evidence, which can be interpreted in two ways.

I don't know many 19 year-old girls who have the power to overcome a guy that had to be tasered twice before the police could take him down. The fact that she was naked with a bloodied mouth makes me wonder how much of a willing participant she was. Did it occur to you to wonder how her mouth got bloodied? Perhaps you think that she hit herself in the face, or that the child did? Why did she feel that she needed to be naked in order to perform an exorcism? Seems a weird thing to do, especially in front of your father. According to the reports she was not the one strangling the child, he was and he was the one blocking the door to possibly prevent the police from entering.

It just amazes me that she has been convicted and condemned before she has even been charged. To me, that speaks volumes.

Who is the "you" here? Sun Devil doesn't seem to be making any assumptions.