Zakieya Avery: Maryland Mom Who Killed Her Children ‘Exorcism Style’ Sent To Mental Hospital

A Maryland mother accused of murdering her two young children and assaulting her older children in 2014 was ordered to go to a psychiatric hospital on Thursday, after a judge ruled that she was mentally incompetent when the crimes occurred.

Crimesider reports that Avery, 31, of Germantown, admitted that she killed her two youngest kids, ages 18 months and 2. She claimed she was a “demon assassin” and her children needed exorcisms. She also admitted to trying to kill her two oldest children, ages 5 and 8.

ICYMI: Zakieya Latrice Avery of Germantown is charged with murdering two of her children. http://t.co/EDFGo18ObK pic.twitter.com/VF16jmbRI7

— NewsChannel 8 (@NewsChannel8) January 18, 2014

Montgomery County Circuit Judge Terrence McGann ruled that Avery was mentally incompetent after going through detailed case files. He stated there was strong evidence that showed she lacked “rational thinking” when the killings occurred. He also indicated that she suffered from both bipolar disorder and borderline personality disorder.

“I find that Ms. Avery’s ritualistic albeit barbaric attempt to rid her children of demons is powerful evidence of her lack of rational thinking…..The inescapable conclusion I draw is that she believed she was providing for her children’s salvation. What rational normal-thinking human being could possibly conclude that their children would be better off dead than alive?”

Avery reportedly killed the children with the help of her roommate, Monifa Sanford, who also said that she believed the kids were overtaken by demons. Prior to the killings, Avery wrote long journal entries about an imaginary spirit boyfriend and how her kids were possessed by evil forces. At one point, she became so afraid of her own children that he slept in her car for almost two weeks, in an attempt to avoid the kids.

The judge also noted that Avery was treated for mental health issues in the past. She was prescribed medication, but threw it away, claiming, “God had delivered her from her mental illness.”

Not everyone agreed with McGann’s ruling. A number of doctors testified that Avery knew exactly what she was doing when she murdered her children, and that the act was intentional. They pointed out that she tried to evade arrest after the crimes by running from her house and hiding.

Other physicians, however, including psychiatrist Neil Blumberg, disagreed. According to Blumberg, Avery acted out on what she perceived to be a real threat to all of her children.

“The only way to understand her actions in this case is to factor in her mental illness, her delusional belief that her children were being possessed by demons. She clearly at the time thought that this was the proper and moral thing to do. She was acting in an altruistic way — as she had done previously when she was less mentally ill.”

Family left courtroom sobbing as prosecutors shared gruesome facts on the way Avery killed her children (pictured). pic.twitter.com/C93nKN1OnK

— Kevin Lewis (@KevinLewis7News) September 12, 2016

Avery admitted to stabbing her 2-year-old daughter, Zyana, at least 20 times, and strangling her 18-month-old son, Norell, to death, before she stabbed him in the chest. Her older children, Taniya, 5, and Martello, 8, were also stabbed during the “exorcism ritual,” but both survived, despite critical injuries.

Shortly after her arrest, a police surveillance video recorded in an interview room showed Avery throwing her hands up in the air and according to Blumberg, “talking to something that is not there.”

Brian Shefferman, Avery’s lawyer, said that McGann made the right decision in the “tragic case,” and that his client will likely spend a number of years in a mental health institution before she’s released back into society. Avery’s cousin, Kaliha Brooks, said that Avery was always a loving mother, and that it’s “mind blowing” that she hurt the children she seemed to love.

“I can honestly say that my cousin absolutely adored and loved her children.”

Zakieya Avery showed little emotion after the judge read the verdict. Her roommate had her own hearing previously this year, and after taking a plea deal, she was also found to be mentally incompetent.

[Feature photo by the Montgomery Police Department]