BAXTER, Ky. -- A woman bitten by a rattlesnake during an Appalachia snake-handling ritual died Thursday after fellow parishioners prayed over her swollen body for seven hours in a faith-healing attempt, police said.
'Their faith is that they can take up serpents and if they are bitten, the power of God is more powerful than the poison,' said Kentucky State Police spokesman Bill Riley.
The body of Shirley McLeary, 38, of Toledo, Ohio, was taken to Louisville for an autopsy to confirm the cause of death.
McLeary was bitten 'at least three times' about 10 p.m. Wednesday when she handled the Eastern Diamondback rattlesnake during a wake at the Church of Jesus Christ in the mountains of Harlan County, Riley said.
McLeary, who was attending the wake for her uncle, Marion Rowe of Harlan, was then moved to a house adjacent to the small church, but no medical help was sought, Riley said.
'They pray over them and lay hands over them and practice faith healing,' said Riley. 'They are supposed to be filled with the spirit of God and not supposed to die.'
McLeary, her arms swelled from the poison, died at 5:15 a.m. Thursday and the county coroner was called. When the coroner arrived, he called police, Riley said.
No members of the church or family were available for comment.
Handling of snakes during a religious service is a Class B misdemeanor under Kentucky law, but Riley said he could not remember anyone being prosecuted in his 17 years of police work in southeastern Kentucky.
'Proving it in court is very difficult, because you have to have actually witness the handling,' said Riley. 'You come to court and you're not going to get a lot of support because people think you are practicing religious suppression.'
Riley also said the $50 fine did not make the law much of a deterrent to snake handling, which he said is practiced by several churches in the mountainous area.
Police and prosecutors will review statutes to see if McLeary's fellow churchmembers could be prosecuted under another law, but Riley was not optimistic.
'If a person bitten by a snake declines medical help, I don't know what we can do,' said Riley, adding it had not been determined whether McLeary herself did not ask for treatment.
