Innocent Infant Tortured And Killed In Exorcism Ritual

A California child was tortured and killed by her own family while they were performing an exorcism on her, newly released court documents show.

Santa Clara County prosecutors said the 3-year-old little girl was strangled by her mother, uncle, and grandfather in a small church in San Jose in September 2021. Family members “believed the child was possessed by a demon and were at the church praying for her,” according to Deputy District Attorney Rebekah Wise.

Her grandfather “was identified as the leader of the Church and claimed he was a certified pastor,” Wise continued. Her mother, Claudia Elisa Hernandez, 25, was charged in February with felony assault on a child and is currently in jail without bail.

The mother said she believed the girl was possessed because she would wake during the night and scream or cry. The girl’s mother, uncle and grandfather held her down by the torso, neck, and legs for several hours, while they tried to make her vomit by sticking their fingers down her throat.

Church officials claim the family performed the exorcism to “liberate her of her evil spirits.”

The child eventually lost consciousness, suffering “multiple injuries around her eyes, face, neck, and chest,” according to court documents. She endured 12 hours of torture before she died. It was more than 2 hours later when first responders were called, the child was pronounced dead at the scene.

Her death was ruled a homicide by suffocation and smothering. The mother was denied bail as she was deemed to be a “high flight risk.”

Hernandez posted a YouTube video in January discussing her daughter’s death. “I could sit here and be negative. But there’s no point in me doing that. I cannot change what is. It is what it is,” she said. She was charged in the murder six days after uploading the video onto YouTube. If found guilty, she faces 25 years to life in prison.