San Jose police announced two more arrests on Friday in connection with the death of a 3-year-old girl who was allegedly subjected to an exorcism last October in San Jose.
On Wednesday, the victim’s uncle, Rene Aaron Hernandez-Santos, and grandfather, Rene Trigueros Hernandez, were charged in Arely Naomi Proctor’s death.
Claudia Hernandez-Santos, the victim’s mother, was detained and formally charged with child abuse leading to the victim’s death on January 31, 2022, according to police.
According to court papers obtained by our media partner, the Mercury News, on Sept. 24, 2021, police went to a report of a child death at a residence with a ramshackle church called Iglesia Apostoles y Profetas located on the premises.
According to authorities, first responders rushed on the location and discovered the girl unresponsive before performing life-saving measures.
She was brought to a nearby hospital and pronounced dead.
The death was originally declared a homicide by asphyxiation by the Santa Clara County medical examiner’s office.
Hernandez told officers she thought her daughter was demonic because she would “wake up and scream or cry frequently,” according to court documents. According to the Mercury News, the mother and her brother took the child to the church on September 24 and were joined by a minister to execute an exorcism.
All three are accused of making the girl puke while gripping her neck in the hope of driving spirits from her body.
Deputy District Attorney Rebekah Wise stated after the arraignment about the abuse the two men and Claudia Hernandez are accused of inflicting on the child.
