Autistic boy, 8, suffocated in 'exorcism' ritual that went wrong

Police are investigating the death of an eight-year-old autistic boy who suffocated during an "exorcism" ceremony performed by members of his church. The senior pastor at the church has already been arrested and officials said they were treating the boy's death as a homicide.

Terrance Cotrell died after being wrapped in sheets while members of the church attempted to cure him of "spirits", said David Hemphill, whose brother, Ray, led the service at the church in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, on Saturday.

"[They] were just praying for him and asking God to deliver him from the spirit that he had," he said. "The little boy had spirits in him, and we was asking God to deliver him." Mr Hemphill said the prayers were in accordance with Matthew 12:43, which says: "When an evil spirit comes out of a man, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it."

The boy had been taken to the Faith Temple Church of the Apostolic Faith, located in a run-down shopping mall, by his mother, who joined in the prayers with Mr Hemphill and other members of the congregation. But at the end of the two-hour prayer session a woman noticed that Terrance was not breathing. Someone called the emergency services but by the time they arrived the boy was dead.

A neighbour said Terrance's mother was a convert who once said that the evil spirit had spoken through her son at the church. "She said he said, 'Kill me, take me, kill me'," said Denise Allison, a neighbour. "I was like, are you serious? I couldn't really believe that."

The Milwaukee County coroner's office said that a post-mortem examination had concluded that the boy had died of "mechanical asphyxia due to external chest compression". Eileen Weller, the office's administrative manager, said: "Air was not able to get in or out."