Melissa Vera Norris

Background

Melissa Vera Norris killed her three-month-old son, Demiko Lee Norris, during an exorcism attempt.

The offence

On Monday, April 11, 1976, Norris killed her three-month-old son, Demiko Lee Norris, by beating the child to death during an exorcism attempt at the home of 28-year-old Joyce Pope at 7348 Damascus Road, Gaithersburg, Maryland.

Joyce Pope testified that Norris began referring to the baby as if it were Satan before shaking the child and pounding the infant on its chest, stomach and area below the stomach until the child died. Pope also testified that, during the events, Norris physically abused the child in the course of a religious frenzy and exorcism.

Investigation

During the events at the Christian Tabernacle Church and afterward, the police and rescue personnel determined that the child was dead. Police and rescue personnel arrived and determined that the child was dead after Mother Dorothy King sent for ambulance assistance from the firehouse across the street.

A detective from the District of Columbia Homicide division arrived and interviewed Melissa and Joyce Pope together. In that interview, the detective questioned Pope about what occurred between her and Melissa in Pope’s presence. Pope said that she asked Melissa the pertinent medical facts about the baby, including date of birth, hospital, term of pregnancy, whether the baby was released from the hospital at the same time as the mother, prenatal care, postnatal care, when the baby was last fed, and whether it was burped.

Pope said she asked Melissa whether the baby ever fell, whether Melissa struck the baby, hit the baby, or caused any injuries, and that Melissa responded “No.” Pope said she asked Melissa and did not contradict Melissa’s denial of abusing the child. Pope stated that she explained later to police that “it was her body in the flesh, but it wasn’t her, because it was something else.”

The detective asked about feeding information. Pope gave feeding information in response to the detective’s questions, stating that she had fed the baby around four o’clock, that nothing was unusual, and that she had fed the baby again sometime around 8:00 or 9:00 in the morning.

Pope also testified that the detective explained to Melissa that an autopsy would be performed and where the body was going, and the arrangements Pope needed to make with the funeral home.

The following day, Montgomery County police began their investigation and Pope was brought to the station. At that interview, Pope disclosed what had happened. The narrative also states that Melissa Vera Norris escaped responsibility for her conduct because she was determined insane at the time of the commission of the crime, and that she had since been released as sane and had given birth to another child.

Trial

At Norris’ trial on September 14, 1976, the judge, prosecutor, and defense attorney agreed that Melissa Norris was insane at the time of the exorcism. The agreement was that this meant she could not be convicted of murder.

Judge John J. Mitchell then ruled that Norris was sane at the time of the trial and therefore could not be sent to a mental institution. Norris was freed.

Other events and witness testimony included in the case narrative

Following a Friday evening service at the Christian Tabernacle Church, Joyce Lillian Pope agreed to permit Norris and her three-month-old child, Demiko, to stay at Pope’s home. Pope assisted Norris with the child by preparing its bed in a dresser drawer, changing the child, and feeding him.

Pope testified that Norris’s conduct sporadically indicated mental distress, with periods in which Norris seemed caught up in a religious frenzy with a “wild look about her,” trying to preach and declaring that she was God. Pope also testified that Norris resumed normal conduct without ever seeming to notice the personality transitions.

Because of concern for the child’s safety, Pope watched the child “like it was [her] own,” and prevailed upon Norris to let the child sleep in a dresser drawer rather than in bed with the mother.

Over the following morning, Norris’s episodes became more pronounced. Norris stomped and gestured, put crosses on doors, demanded the departure of evil which she claimed to see, kicked and banged at the door of Pope’s son, and exhorted Satan to leave the premises. Pope testified that Norris “anointed” Pope’s son with oil, placing some oil in the child’s mouth, and repeated the process with Pope’s daughter.

Pope described a sequence in which Norris prepared a water tub to bathe the baby during a sudden change back to religious fervor. Pope’s narrative described Norris calling out that Satan had hidden in the body of her son and verbally exorcising that spirit while physically abusing the child by punching and poking him repeatedly about the stomach, chest and privates. Pope testified that Norris poked the child’s vitals, beat the child about the head, reached fingers down its throat wiping mucus and blood on diapers, lifted the child by inserting her hands in its mouth, and shook him like a rag.

Pope testified that Norris began squeezing the baby and holding the child by the neck with one hand while taking him into the bathroom, and that, while in the “God voice,” Norris called Pope and asked: “Didn't I give you eyes to see?”

Pope noticed Norris’s finger nails and said to Norris: “[H]ow do you [284 Md Page 316] handle a baby with such long nails,” but Pope did nothing else during the episode.

Pope said Angela came to the house while Norris’s frenzy diminished. Pope did not tell Angela what had happened and said: “[I]t's Melissa, the baby. . . .” Pope locked the door so that Angela’s children would stay in the yard.

Angela wrapped the dead or dying child in a towel, held the comatose body over her head and prayed.

Pope testified that after leaving the house, the three adults—Pope, her sister, and Norris—left with the child. The narrative states that they went to a church in the District of Columbia. Angela drove to the home of Norris’s grandfather, with whom Norris had lived. Norris’s grandfather stated that both Pope and Norris were in a religious frenzy.

In a verbatim exchange, the narrative includes the following: “Q Who was saying that they were Jesus Christ at this point? A Melissa and Joyce Pope. Q All right. And what happened then? A They just carried on and carried on. So Joyce — I mean Joyce kept telling me there was a dead baby in the car, and for me to go and open his eyes and look at him, his heart was like a stone. Q Did you do that? A No, sir. By the way they was carrying on, I didn't believe that they knew what they was talking about. Q What happened then? A Well, after I didn't go, Joyce went to the car and got the baby — Q What car was this? Was this the car they had come in? A That is the car they came in. Q What happened then? A She brought the baby back to me and tried to give it to me, and told me to look at it, it was dead; its heart was like a stone. I still didn't take the baby.”

The narrative states that, after leaving that scene, they arrived at a nursing home and picked up another member of the Christian Tabernacle congregation, telling her that “God has a job for you to do.” The group continued on to the church, passing hospitals, rescue squads, and police stations. At the church, the child was given to, or taken by, the Reverend Leon Hart, who gave him to Mother Dorothy King for her prayers. Mother King discovered the child’s body was cool and sent for ambulance assistance.

Police and rescue personnel arrived and determined that the child was dead. The first police officer on the scene saw Pope but did not address her.

The narrative also states that Norris and Pope attended the evening service at the church; Norris reverted to “God” during the service, and Reverend Leon Hart restrained her and attempted to convince her that she was not Jesus Christ. Norris refused to go to her grandfather’s home and returned home with Pope.

The narrative states that the next morning Pope was interviewed at the police station and wrote a full explanation of what had happened, and later made an oral statement which was recorded.

Outcome

Melissa Vera Norris was found not guilty on grounds of temporary insanity on September 14, 1976. Judge John J. Norris was freed.