COPS: Religious Cult Starved Toddler To Death

ASSOCIATED PRESS: A toddler whose remains were found inside a suitcase in Philadelphia this spring was starved to death by members of a religious cult, including his mother, in part because he refused to say “amen” after meals, police said. Ria Ramkissoon, the mother of Javon Thompson, was charged with first-degree murder in the boy’s death, and Baltimore police said that three other members of a group called 1 Mind Ministries have also been charged with first-degree murder. Police and Ramkissoon’s family say the group is a cult. Members did not seek medical care for Javon when he stopped breathing, and the boy died in his mother’s arms, according to court documents that described police interviews with a confidential informant and two children. He would have been about 15 months old when police say adults stopped feeding him in December 2006. MORE

 

KILLADELPHIA: An 18-year-old man was fatally shot in North Philadelphia last night, police said. Police responded to a report of a shooting in the 2200 block of North Reese Street at 9:46 p.m. and found Brian Jones lying in the street with a gunshot wound to the chest, police said. Jones, of the 2200 block of North Fifth Street — one block east of Reese — was transported by medics to Temple University Hospital and was pronounced dead at 11:17 p.m., police said. No arrests were reported.