Cult 'Starved Tot for Not Saying Amen'

1 Mind Ministries members on trial for boy's murder
By Rob Quinn,  Newser Staff
Posted Feb 23, 2010 2:27 AM CST
Cult 'Starved Tot for Not Saying Amen'
If alleged cult leader Queen Antoinette "perceived a rebellious spirit in someone, she would characterize it as demonic," the court was told yesterday.   (AP Photo/via Baltimore Police Department)

Not saying "amen" at an age when many children can't say their own name was a death sentence for a Baltimore baby boy, a prosecutor told a court yesterday. Queen Antoinette, leader of the now-defunct 1 Mind Ministries cult, ordered that food and water be withheld from year-old Javon Thompson because he didn't say "amen" before meals, according to investigators. After he died of starvation, cult members prayed for his resurrection and then hid the body.

"In full view of every member of that household, Javon wasted away," the prosecutor said. "If this little boy had ever had the capacity to say amen, he surely lost it. He could not say anything." Antoinette and two others are charged with murder in connection with the death. The boy's mother pleaded guilty last year to child abuse resulting in death, and will testify against the other cult members, reports the AP. She insisted that the plea deal contain the provision that it will be voided if Javon comes back to life.
(More 1 Mind Ministries stories.)

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