Name: Katonya Jackson.
Died: 1983.
Age at death: 3.
Cause of death: Untreated epilepsy.
Location: Micanopy, Florida, USA.
Disability: Epilepsy.
Details:
Katonya’s mother was in a cult called the House of Prayer, and gave her and her brother to the pastor of the church to care for.
Katonya had seizures, which the pastor took to mean that she had the devil in her. Katonya’s family says she starved and beat Katonya and refused to give her her epilepsy medication.
Katonya died, covered in bruises, from untreated epilepsy. Her death was ruled “preventable”.
Case status:
Lea Vera Jackson (Mother), arrested and released without charges.
Anna Young (House of Prayer pastor), convicted of child abuse in the case of Nikki Nickelson; served six months; convicted of manslaughter, in the case of Katonya Jackson, sentenced to 15 years; convicted of first-degree murder of Eamon “Moses” Harper, sentenced to 30 years concurrent with the manslaughter sentence.
Source:
Cult leader’s daughter gives an inside look at the House of Prayer
Anna Young gets 30 years in toddler’s death
Death, abuse and questions — life in an Alachua County cult
House of Prayer residents say torture, abuse was common
Survivors ask: Why did cult misdeeds go by ‘wayside’?
Mother Anna: The Cult Leader Suspected of Torture and Murder