Texas ‘prophet’ arrested after death of boy, starved for 25 days to expel demon

A woman who operated a church at her suburban Dallas home has been arrested for allegedly helping starve a two-year-old boy to rid him of a “demon,” then holding a resurrection ceremony shortly after he died to try to revive him, investigators said.

Police believe the boy was dead during the ceremony but that his parents later took his body to their native Mexico for burial without reporting the death, Balch Springs police Lieutenant Mark Maret said Tuesday. He said an anonymous tip about the ceremony at Araceli Meza’s home, where several other church members also lived, led to the investigation. He noted that more arrests are likely.

Meza was charged Monday with injury to a child causing serious bodily injury by omission. The 49-year-old was being held on US$100,000 (HK$775,000) bond at the local jail, where records didn’t list an attorney. No one answered the door at her home in Balch Springs, about 25km east of Dallas, and phone calls to the home went unanswered.

Witnesses told police that Meza and the boy’s parents believed he had a “demon” inside him, and that fasting was the way to save him.

“They didn’t give the child any food for about 25 days,” Maret said. “They just gave him some water, which ultimately caused the child to die.”

Church member Nazareth Zurita said she saw the child “looking frail and weak” the day before the resurrection ceremony, according to a police affidavit. She said the toddler fell and hit his head several times, but she hesitated to help him “due to his demon possession.”