Cult member’s guilty plea over son’s death ‘to be withdrawn if he’s resurrected’

US PROSECUTORS agreed to unusual terms to win a guilty plea from a former religious cult member charged with starving her one-year-old son to death: if the child is resurrected, her plea will be withdrawn.

Ria Ramkissoon, 22, has also agreed to testify against four other members of the defunct religious group known as 1 Mind Ministries. All four are charged with first-degree murder in the death of Javon Thompson, whose body was kept in a suitcase packed with mothballs and fabric softener sheets long after he died.

Ramkissoon’s lawyer said the resurrection clause Ramkissoon insisted on shows that she is still “brainwashed” and needs the psychological treatment that is planned as part of her sentencing.

According to prosecutors, the cult members stopped feeding the boy when he refused to say “Amen” after a meal. After Javon died, Ramkissoon sat next to his decomposing body and prayed for his resurrection.

Ramkissoon’s attorney, Steven D Silverman, said Ramkissoon believes the resurrection will occur.

She agreed to plead guilty only after prosecutors said they would drop the charges if the child comes back to life, Silverman said.

“This is something that she absolutely insisted upon, and this is indicative of the fact that she is still brainwashed, still a victim of this cult,” he said.

Baltimore Circuit Judge Timothy J Doory assured Ramkissoon that the plea would indeed be withdrawn if the child is resurrected.

Ramkissoon pleaded guilty to one count of child abuse resulting in death.

She will remain in custody until she testifies against her co-defendants and will receive a suspended 20-year jail sentence and serve five years’ probation.

Sentencing was scheduled for August 11. By then, Ramkissoon will have spent about a year in jail.

As part of her probation, she must undergo treatment, including sessions with an expert on cult behaviour.

The maximum sentence for child abuse resulting in death is 30 years, and defendants typically receive between 12 and 20 years, according to Maryland sentencing guidelines.

Ramkissoon will fare much better under the plea deal than if she had pursued an insanity defence, Silverman said.

A court psychiatrist found she was competent to stand trial and could have been held criminally responsible for Javon’s death because she knew the difference between right and wrong.

If Ramkissoon had been found not criminally responsible, she would have been committed indefinitely to a state mental hospital.

By pleading guilty, she will serve little jail time and still get the treatment she needs, Silverman said.