Cult leader charged with starving toddler

BALTIMORE, Aug. 12 (UPI) -- The alleged leader of a Baltimore religious cult has been charged with the slaying of a toddler, whom prosecutors say was starved to death as discipline.

Charged with murder in warrants were cult leader Toni Ellsberry, 40, also known as Queen Antoinette, and three other members of the group, the 1 Mind Ministries, described by authorities as a Christian fundamentalist cult, the Baltimore Sun reported Tuesday.

Ria Ramkissson, 21, has already been charged in the death of her son, 21-month-old Javon Thompson, whose body was found hidden in a suitcase in Philadelphia. Police say the toddler incurred the wrath of Ellsberry and other cult members because he refused to say "amen" when the group gathered at its West Baltimore home for meals. Ellsberry allegedly labeled the boy "a demon" and assured his mother he would be raised from the dead, the newspaper said.

Authorities say Javon probably died in December 2006 and two months later the group fled to Philadelphia, taking the boy's body in a green suitcase with wheels. Police found Javon's body in a shed behind a Philadelphia house in May 2007, the Sun reported.