California Family Killed Toddler by Performing Horrifying Church Exorcism Together, DA Says

Prosecutors said they wanted all three California family members, who allegedly killed a young girl after performing an exorcism on her, to be on trial together.

Santa Clara County District Attorney Jeffrey Rosen said that each played a role in "torturing" the girl for 14 hours. According to KSEE Fresno, Rosen filed court documents Monday urging a judge to merge the three cases into one trial.

San Jose police first arrested the child's 25-year-old mom, Claudia Hernandez-Santos. Authorities did not arrest the grandfather and uncle until last month as it took several months to determine that they played equal roles in causing the girl's death.

Rosen wrote in court documents that each defendant committed acts of physical abuse against Arely Hernandez during a 14-hour time frame prior to her death.

Rosen added that all three defendants held Arely at different parts of her body, alleging that one held Arely at the neck, one at the abdomen, and one was holding her legs as they tried to induce her to vomit.

A coroner determined that the girl's death was a homicide caused by suffocation and smothering. She also suffered injuries to her face and neck and blunt force injuries across her chest and back.

The prosecutors also wrote that Arely also had internal bleeding. Rosen said the defendants committed the violent act together, so their cases should be consolidated. The district attorney noted that it was not possible to identify what defendant caused what specific injury.

Prosecutors filed child abuse charges against all three California family members, including assault on a child with force likely to cause great bodily injury resulting in death.

California Family Performs Exorcism

According to court documents, Arely Hernandez died inside a small church in San Jose last September after being tortured and killed by her family, who were performing an exorcism ritual casting out a demon, Kron 4 reported.

Deputy district attorney Rebekah Wise said the child's family believed a demon had possessed the toddler. Hernandez told police that she started to think that her daughter was "possessed" on September 23 because she would often wake up in the middle of the night crying or screaming.

The following day, the girl's mom, grandfather, and uncle drove her to the church at 1094 2nd Street in San Jose, where they allegedly participated in the exorcism ritual.

The child's grandfather, Rene Trigueros Hernandez, was reportedly the church leader and claimed he was a certified pastor. The family allegedly conducted the exorcism ritual so that the "demon" inside the girl's body would leave.

Reports claimed that Hernandez, the girl's grandfather, and the uncle held the California child down by her neck, legs, and torso for several hours. The trio also tried to make her vomit by sticking their fingers and hands down the child's throat.

"She [Hernandez] strangled her multiple times to the point where the victim went unconscious, she stuck her hands down her throat, and continued this course of conduct for almost a full day," Wise wrote of the El Salvador-born mom in court documents.

Hernandez said she tried to stick her finger down her daughter's throat to induce vomiting and that the child "fell asleep several times" while she pushed down on her throat with her hand.

The three-year-old child reportedly died at around 6:30 p.m. after 12 hours of torture. New York Post reported that the California family did not call 911 until 8:12 p.m. or nearly two hours after they thought the girl had died.

California Family Members

Last month, the child's grandfather told San Jose Police Department Sgt. JJ Vallejo that they conducted two "prayer sessions" on the girl. The 59-year-old pastor said he held the child tightly by her torso while the mom held her arms and the uncle on her feet.

Rene Trigueros Hernandez noted that the child was fighting back, and she had unusual strength. He said the girl even attempted to bite his arms. The pastor added that he then walked outside of the room to take a phone call, and when he returned, the kid was already dead.

The child's uncle, Rene Aaron Hernandez Santos, told Vallejo that he never placed his hands on the chest and back of the victim and applied pressure. He added that after they believed the victim had died, he attempted mouth-to-mouth with the victim.

The girl's mom, uncle, and grandfather remain behind bars in a Santa Clara County jail without bail.

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Written by: Mary Webber

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