Crime & Safety
Mother to Undergo Psychiatric Evaluation, Held Without Bond in Toddlers' Death
The women told police they believed the children were possessed by demons and were trying to get rid of the evil spirits.
By Tiffany Arnold
A Montgomery County district judge ruled Tuesday that two women be held without bond after two toddlers were stabbed to death in what police described as an attempted exorcism in Germantown.
The judge granted Montgomery County State's Attorney John McCarthy's request that Zakieya Latrice Avery, mother of the four children involved in the incident, undergo psychiatric testing to see whether she is competent to stand trial. Police charged Avery with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.
The state's attorney's office is expected to submit a similar request for psychiatric testing of Monifa Denise Sanford, who is also being held on charges of attempted murder and first-degree murder.
Montgomery County Police Capt. Marcus Jones said Sanford and Avery knew each other from a Germantown church and were members of a group called "Demon Assassins."
Police responded Friday to a 911 call and found Norell Harris, 1, and Zyana Harris, 2, dead in the master bedroom of the townhouse in the 19000 block of Cherry Bend Drive. Two other children—5-year-old Taniya Harris and 8-year-old Martello Harris—suffered serious stab wounds but are expected to survive, police said.
Avery and Sanford told police they believed the children were possessed by demons and were trying to get rid of the evil spirits.
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