Family accused of killing 3-year-old during exorcism wants case thrown out under California’s Racial Justice Act

SAN JOSE, Calif. (TCN) -- Attorneys for a family charged with killing a 3-year-old during an exorcism are seeking to have the case thrown out under California’s 2020 Racial Justice Act. The act aims to correct bias in the criminal justice system.

On Sept. 24, 2021, Arely Naomi Proctor was killed on the altar of the Iglesia Evangelica Apostoles y Profetas church in San Jose, California, KRON reports. Firefighters who responded to the scene allege the child had been tortured for 12 hours. 

A coroner determined the child died of mechanical asphyxia and smothering. Family members claimed they were trying to save her. The child’s mother, Claudia Elisa Hernandez, now 29, said Proctor was possessed by an evil demon and God had told the family he was going to take her from them.

Proctor’s uncle, Rene “Aaron” Hernandez Santos, then 19, and grandfather Rene Trigueros Hernandez, 59 at the time, corroborated the story. They allegedly held the child down and strangled her to get rid of the demon. 

CBS News reported Proctor’s mother “strangled her multiple times to the point where the victim went unconscious, she stuck her hands down her throat, and continued this course of conduct for almost a full day.”

 Police said the family did not attempt to perform CPR or call 911, KTVU reported in 2022. 

All three family members were charged with felony assault on a child causing death, KRON reports. The district attorney is seeking a punishment of 25 years to life in prison.

On May 20, 2024, a judge in Santa Clara County determined that prosecutors had enough evidence to move forward with a trial, the Independent reported at the time. All three were arraigned and ordered held without bail.

Now, more than four years after Proctor’s death, defense attorneys representing the family have filed a joint motion under California’s Racial Justice Act (RJA) accusing the police and prosecutors of bias toward them because of their religious faith, ethnic identity, and national origin, KRON reports.

They claim the family acted in good faith with no ulterior criminal motive, and that as Salvadoran Pentecostals, they have “an absolute belief in divine, supernatural intervention.”

KRON reports Trigueros Hernandez was the pastor at the church where Proctor was killed and the RJA motion states that he was experienced in faith healing and exorcisms. The motion claims that in one case of possession, Trigueros Hernandez allegedly witnessed a crocodile 12 to 18 inches long emerge from a woman and then be burned after he prayed over for her six hours.

In January 2022, a few days before she was arrested in connection with Proctor’s death, the child’s mother posted a YouTube video discussing the child’s death, WTVT reported, saying, “Like, I could sit here and be negative… be sad about the whole situation that she passed away, but it’s like, there’s no point, you know, because it is what it is.” 

All three defendants remain jailed without bail, KRON reports. They will appear in court on Jan. 22.

MORE