Mom said dead tot possessed by demon

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) - According to court documents, Fort Wayne resident Latisha Lawson, 31, forced a mixture of oil and vinegar to her children because she believed they were both demon possessed.

Lawson’s daughter Kierra King, 10, vomited when given the mixture. Her son Jezaih King, 3, was given the oil and vinegar three times. On the third time, Lawson told detectives she held Jezaih’s mouth shut for about 10 minutes until he stopped breathing.

“I don't know of any particular denomination that has an official practice saying these are the things you need to use in order to exorcise a demon,” said Dr. Quinton Dixie, IPFW religion professor. He said oil is often used as something to anoint or bless in the Bible. But rarely do you see it ingested to deter evil.

After Jezaih died, Kierra said Latisha Lawson placed him on a bed and had her view his body and pray over him.

Professor Dixie said some people view exorcism as a spiritual aid. “The issue is not harming the individual. It's actually freeing that individual from the thing that binds them,” he said. “In this case, it's an evil spirit. And so, while the intent may have been positive, obviously the outcome was negative.”

Lawson admitted she later wrapped the three-year-old in a blanket and put his body in a closet for almost a year.
 

The incident happened in November, 2009. Preliminary cause of death was listed as asphyxia due to compression of the neck.

Latisha Lawson told investigators she knowingly harmed her son, in 2009. She is charged with three counts of neglect of a dependent and two counts of battery.

The story has grabbed national attention .

Fort Wayne Police confirmed that Latisha Lawson’s mother had not seen her daughter or grandchildren in roughly two years.

The children’s father had no contact with them in nearly a year as well.
FWPD Public Information Officer Raquel Foster said, “She made it difficult for anyone to obtain any information about her. And that is why I believe it took some time for grandma to track her down.”

Lawson’s mom contacted police on September 23 of this year, requesting that officers check on the welfare of her daughter and grandchildren.

According to police, Lawson’s mother had been searching for the family for months and had only recently obtained an address.

She directed police to an apartment on Hobson Road and that’s where officers found Latisha, her daughter Kierra, and another woman; police are not releasing that woman’s identity.

Foster said both adult females told the responding officer that Jezaih King was staying with a relative.

The woman who has not been identified is now an official part of the investigation.

“She is a very important part of this investigation because when the officer went to that apartment on Hobson Road, she corroborated the mother's story,” Raquel Foster said. “She said yes, that toddler was staying with an aunt and that yes, he was fine. And we know now that was not the truth.”

Police say Latisha Lawson’s family members had difficulty locating her because she was constantly isolating herself and her children—evading family and friends.