Left to right: Rene Trigueros Hernandez, Rene Hernandez Santos, Claudia Hernandez-Santos (San Jose Police Department).
Lawyers representing a California mother, accused in the tragic death of her 3-year-old daughter during an alleged exorcism, are reportedly seeking to have the charges dismissed by invoking the state’s Racial Justice Act.
Claudia Hernandez, aged 29, is currently detained in connection with the 2021 demise of Arely Naomi Proctor. Authorities claim that the child was killed during a ritual at a San Jose church altar, where Hernandez, along with her uncle and grandfather, believed she was possessed by a demon.
According to prosecutors, this distressing incident unfolded over approximately 20 hours, culminating at Iglesia Apostoles y Profetas. The church was being overseen at the time by Hernandez’s father and co-defendant, Rene Trigueros Hernandez, who is 63 years old.
Hernandez’s brother, 23-year-old Rene “Aaron” Hernandez-Santos, is also implicated in the case. All three individuals are charged with assault on a child resulting in death.
Hernandez’s defense team is now appealing to a judge to dismiss the charges under the Racial Justice Act (RJA), as reported by CW affiliate KRON.
Enacted in 2020, the RJA aims to eradicate racial prejudice within the legal system. According to a violation of the RJA, bias or hostility towards a defendant based on race, ethnicity, or national origin is prohibited within the criminal justice process.
Attorneys for the defendant argue in a 109-page motion that prosecutors and police showed bias against her religion and national origin. Lawyers reportedly wrote their clients were performing a religious ritual that was “a genuine effort at faith healing, with no ulterior criminal motive.”
The family reportedly practiced Pentecostal Christianity and the elder Hernandez was a pastor at their church. Those practicing the religion have “an absolute belief in divine, supernatural intervention,” the motion says. The pastor, according to his attorney, has participated in similar exercises on people possessed in his native El Salvador.
“As an adult preaching … he witnessed instances of possession, including a woman who had gone to the United States, had a spell cast on her, and came back possessed. Rene was one of 12 men who conducted a prayer ceremony to liberate her. At the end of six hours of prayer, a crocodile, 12 to 18 inches in length, emerged from her, was caught, and was burned,” the defense’s motion stated, per KRON.
An attorney for the elder Hernandez wrote that his client was practicing his faith by “doing his best to protect his granddaughter from harm, and tragically failing in that endeavor.”
Defense attorneys reportedly wrote that cops expressed bias by calling the church “makeshift” while questioning whether the family had “psychological problems” or mental health defects.
A judge will hear arguments about possible RJA violations on Jan. 22.
As Law&Crime previously reported, prosecutors have said Claudia Hernandez has shown no remorse for her actions. Authorities said she even purchased a funeral dress for the child before the killing, documents obtained by KRON said.
Claudia Hernandez allegedly claimed to have previously received a vision from God that God was “going to Arely.” She also allegedly said that two weeks before the girl’s death, she had a vision of dropping the child off at the gates of Heaven.
“Claudia said she thought, ‘Okay, baby. You have to go,’” documents reportedly said.
“She has shown no remorse for the violent assault she committed against Arely, and she does not believe that what she did was wrong,” Wise reportedly wrote.
As the state has done in prior filings, Deputy District Attorney Rebekah Wise emphasized the brutal and protracted nature of Proctor’s death.
“During this assault, Arely Doe fought for her life as the three defendants, all trusted adults, forcibly grabbed her neck, torso, back, and legs, smothered her,” Wise reportedly wrote.
“Around 7:00 p.m., Defendant 2 [the uncle] knelt down beside the victim who was lying on the floor, and he placed one hand on the victim’s chest and one hand on her back,” a statement of facts says. “He applied pressure to the victim and maintained pressure for approximately 10 minutes. He stated the victim was alive at the beginning of this and he closed his eyes to pray. Upon opening his eyes, he believed the victim had died. They continued to pray and did not perform any lifesaving measures for the victim.”
All three adults are charged with felony child abuse causing death.
