JAVON THOMPSON - Aged 2 years - Baltimore (USA)

Posted: Tue Apr 29, 2008 11:32 pm

Distressing article

ABC Local

29 April 2008

Remains of 2 year old found in suitcase

http://abclocal.go.com/wpvi/story?section=news/local&id=6111392

Fox News

Tuesday, March 31, 2009

By BEN NUCKOLS, Associated Press Writer

Experts: Cult member not insane despite odd plea

BALTIMORE — A former religious cult member who helped starve her son to death believes he will be resurrected, but legal experts say her extreme faith doesn't make her criminally insane. The mother made an extraordinary deal with prosecutors Monday that her guilty plea to child abuse resulting in death will be withdrawn if her 1-year-old son, Javon Thompson, comes back to life. Law experts and psychiatrists said there was no problem with the agreement because Ria Ramkissoon, 22, was mentally competent and freely entered into the deal, and extreme religious beliefs aren't deemed insane by law.

http://www.foxnews.com/wires/2009Mar31/0,4670,ChildSlainCult,00.html

The Guardian

Tuesday March 31 2009

Md. mom pleads guilty in cult starvation death

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/feedarticle/8430592

UPI

March. 31, 2009

Mother believes son will be resurrected

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2009/03/31/Mother-believes-son-will-be-resurrected/UPI-39591238518242/

Baltimore Sun

May 20, 2008

Police want 3 held in child's disappearance

(snippet)

Two of the three, Queen Antoinette, 39, and Trevia Williams, 20, were to have a bail review hearing yesterday, but it was postponed until today.

The third person, Marcus Cobbs, 21, has not yet been extradited from New York, said Margaret T. Burns, a spokeswoman for the Baltimore state's attorney's office.

All are connected in court papers to a religious group called 1 Mind Ministries that operated for a time out of an East Baltimore house. Family members of the missing boy fear that the human remains found in Philadelphia belong to 18-month-old Javon Thomson. They have not seen him since his mother, Ria Reshma-Ramkissoon, joined the religious group in April
2006.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-05-20/news/0805190298_1_warrant-baltimore-police-found-in-philadelphia

Baltimore Sun

August 11, 2008

By Brent Jones

Woman in 'cult' charged in son's starvation death

A Baltimore woman who police say is connected to a religious cult has been charged with first- degree murder in the death of her child, according to court documents obtained yesterday.

Ria Ramkissoon, 21, also known as "Princess Marie," additionally is charged with child abuse, reckless endangerment and other offenses in the death of 21-month-old Javon Thompson. In December 2006, Ramkissoon had taken her son and joined the religious group, 1 Mind Ministries, which operated for a time out of East Baltimore, according to relatives and police.

Court documents say cult members starved the toddler to death and kept his remains in a suitcase for more than a year, until Baltimore homicide detectives found the body in Philadelphia.

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-08-11/news/0808110014_1_queen-antoinette-ramkissoon-javon

WJZ

Aug 11, 2009 11:20 pm US/Eastern

Mother Of Slain Child To Be Released

http://wjz.com/local/released.slain.child.2.1123464.html

Baltimore News

Wednesday, August 12, 2009

Mother who starved son gets counseling program

BALTIMORE | A woman who pleaded guilty to starving her toddler son to death while part of a religious sect will be released from the Baltimore jail within a matter of weeks or even days, her attorney said Tuesday.

Ria Ramkissoon, 22, will be enrolled in a counseling program on a farm in rural northeast Maryland, according to lawyers on both sides. The program, which has no fences or guards, was chosen for her by a city prosecutor who arranges alternative sentencing options.

"It's not a correctional facility. It's a place for her to get reacclimated. She'll be part of a community and have a job and responsibilities," said Steven D. Silverman, Ramkissoon's attorney. "She's very excited about the opportunity to do something positive."

(continues)

http://washingtontimes.com/news/2009/aug/12/mother-who-starved-son-gets-counseling-program/

Baltimore Sun

August 12, 2008

4 more in 'cult' cited in death

5, including boy's mother, charged with starving him

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2008-08-12/news/0808110287_1_ramkissoon-queen-antoinette-west-baltimore

The Examiner

Aug 12, 2008

Five alleged cult members charged in baby’s death

(snippet)

Police say they’ve charged the boy’s mother, Ria “Princess Marie” Ramkissoon, 21, and the alleged cult’s leader, Queen Antoinette, 40, with conspiracy to commit the first-degree murder of Javon Thompson, who went missing from Baltimore about two years ago. Also charged in Javon’s death are Marcus Cobbs, 21; Trevia Williams, 21; and Steven Bynum, 42 — all of whom at one point lived on the 300 block of North Robinson Street.

http://www.examiner.com/a-1532460~Five_alleged_cult_members_charged_in_baby_s_death.html

msnbc

13th August 2008

No bail for Md. mom accused in starving death

Woman's attorney blames religious cult for withholding nutrition from tot

http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/26182926/wid/7468326/

The Mirror

13th August 2008

Boy starved for refusing to say amen

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/top-stories/2008/08/13/boy-starved-for-refusing-to-say-amen-115875-20695361/

The Australian

August 13, 2008

Cult starved 'demon' toddler

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/world/cult-starved-demon-toddler/story-e6frg6so-1111117176634

WJZ

Aug 13, 2008 6:32 pm

Bail Denied For 2 Cult Members

http://wjz.com/local/cult.queen.Queen.2.794185.html

Courier Mail

August 13, 2008 12:36am

Javon Thompson 'starved to death by Mind cult'

• Toddler starved to death by cult
  
• Members stopped food because he wouldn't say 'amen'
  
• Cult leader said dead boy would be raised from the dead

A toddler was starved to death by members of a religious cult, including his mother, because he would not say "amen" after meals.

http://www.news.com.au/couriermail/story/0,23739,24170010-5012762,00.html

UPI

Published: Aug. 16, 2008

Boy's grandmother blasts Baltimore DSS

The grandmother of a boy allegedly starved to death by a religious cult says she called the Baltimore Division of Social Services four times without result.

Seeta Khadan-Newton said she talked to employees who "would not give me the time of day," the Baltimore Sun reported.

(continues)

http://www.upi.com/Top_News/2008/08/16/Boys-grandmother-blasts-Baltimore-DSS/UPI-96261218861177/

CBS3

Aug 16, 2008

Police:'Cult' Believed Starved Boy Would Resurrect

http://cbs3.com/topstories/South.Philadelphia.Toddler.2.792979.html

Digital Journal

Aug 17, 2008

By Chris V. Thangham.

2-year-old left to die after he didn't say 'Amen'

http://www.digitaljournal.com/article/258696

Charleston Daily Mail

30th October 2009

By BEN NUCKOLS,

Cult member withdraws guilty plea in child's death

http://www.dailymail.com/ap/ApTopStories/200910300681

Baltimore Sun

October 31, 2009

By Ben Nuckols Associated Press

Plea deal rejected in child's death

Religious cult figure to stand trial in starvation of toddler



A former member of a religious cult backed out of a plea deal Friday and will face trial on charges that he and others starved a toddler to death because the boy refused to say "Amen" after meals.

Marcus A. Cobbs, 22, had agreed to plead guilty to a lesser charge of accessory after the fact. But his attorney abruptly withdrew the plea after a dispute with prosecutors over the conditions of his release.

Cobbs will now face trial in January along with three other members of the now-defunct cult known as 1 Mind Ministries. All four face charges of murder and child abuse in the January 2007 death of 1-year-old Javon Thompson and could face life in prison if convicted.

(...)

He burned a mattress where the boy's body had lain for several days while the cult members prayed for his resurrection, according to the statement. He also measured Javon's body, washed it, wrapped it in a blanket and placed it inside a suitcase that he bought, the statement said.

The cult members drove to Philadelphia with the suitcase containing Javon's body, where they hid it in a shed behind a home, according to the statement and other court documents. The suitcase remained there for more than a year before police found it.

Javon's mother, Ria Ramkissoon, was part of the cult and pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death. She is expected to testify against the other members and remains jailed. At the time of her plea in March, she held out hope that Javon would be resurrected, and in an extraordinary arrangement, prosecutors agreed to withdraw her plea if that occurs.

(more in article)

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-md.ci.cult31oct31,0,5787031.story

The Baltimore Sun

16th February 2010

Jury selection set to begin in child starvation case

Accused of murdering boy, 1, two women have opted to represent selves

http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-child-starve-cult0216,0,1829607.story

The Baltimore Sun

February 17, 2010

Trial near in cult starvation death

Members of 1 Mind Ministries accused of denying child food and water as punishment for not saying 'amen'

http://articles.baltimoresun.com/2010-02-17/news/bal-md.cult17feb17_1_cult-members-toni-ellsberry-trevia-williams

Delmarva Now

February 22, 2010

Jury seated in cult murder trial

http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/20100222/NEWS01/100222031/1002/Jury-seated-in-cult-murder-trial

Associated Press

Feb 22, 2010

By BEN NUCKOLS

Prosecutors: Boy starved to death at cult's hands

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gOp8D56OG9y62Wg_Sobm7oVR4d_wD9E1GUC81

WBALTV

POSTED: 4:13 pm EST February 22, 2010

Prosecutors Describe Boy's Starvation Death

1-Year-Old Boy Killed For Not Saying 'Amen,' Prosecutors Say

http://www.wbaltv.com/news/22636087/detail.html