By Ben Nuckols
Baltimore Sun
February 23, 2010
http://www.baltimoresun.com/news/maryland/baltimore-city/bal-cult-child-starvation0223,0,4575153.story
BALTIMORE (MD) -- The former boyfriend of an alleged religious cult leader testified Tuesday that he encouraged the mother of a starving 1-year-old boy to feed the child.
Steven L. Bynum took the stand at the trial of Queen Antoinette, her daughter and another man. The three are accused of denying food and water to toddler Javon Thompson after the boy did not say "Amen" before a meal.
According to police and prosecutors, Antoinette, Trevia Williams and Marcus A. Cobbs were part of a small religious group called 1 Mind Ministries. Bynum testified that he allowed the group members to live in a building in northwest Baltimore that he owned along with his partners in a security company.
He said that in late 2006 or early 2007, he heard a "loud cry" from the kitchen of the building and walked back from his office to investigate. There, he said he was told by Williams that Javon would not say "Amen."
A few days later, Bynum said he saw Javon in a playpen.
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| Trevia Williams, an alleged member of a group called 1 Mind Ministries, is seen in a booking photo released by the Baltimore Police Dept. Tuesday, August 12, 2008. |
"His color, his skin didn't look right. He was real pale. He looked like he had lost weight," Bynum said. "He was moving in slow motion."
Bynum said he took Javon's mother, Ria Ramkissoon, into his office and closed the door.
"Nowhere in the Old Testament or the New Testament says that you should not feed a child because he doesn't say 'Amen,'" Bynum said he told her. He said she burst into tears. Jurors watched intently during Bynum's testimony.
Ramkissoon was part of the group and has pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death. She plans to testify against Antoinette, Williams and Cobbs, who are acting as their own attorneys. Antoinette faces a first-degree murder charge, while prosecutors are seeking second-degree murder convictions for Williams and Cobbs.
Bynum said he never saw Javon again. Later, he testified that he drove the followers to Philadelphia and that he assumed Javon was living with his father or grandmother.
When Antoinette, also known as Toni Sloan, told Bynum that Javon's body was in a suitcase in the hotel room, "it was kind of mind-blowing," Bynum said. He said he did not contact police because he didn't know how to explain what had happened.
Bynum was initially charged along with the other followers in Javon's death, but prosecutors formally dropped the charges Tuesday. He did not make any deal in exchange for his testimony.
Javon's grandmother, Seeta Khadan-Newton, also testified Tuesday about her efforts to get her daughter and Javon away from the group. After living with the group for just two days, her daughter was "emotionless" and did not return a hug from her, she said.
As they cross-examined the witnesses, Antoinette, Williams and Cobbs appeared to take exception at the characterization of their group as a cult. The three defendants are representing themselves.
"Where did you come up with or where did you hear that we were a cult?" Antoinette asked Khadan-Newton.
Khadan-Newton cited the group's restrictions on what its members wore and on their movement outside the residence. "In my head, that's a cult," she said.
Antoinette's lengthy cross-examination of Bynum produced some odd moments. Under questioning from prosecutors, he detailed her justification for their romantic relationship.
"She told me that God said it was OK for us to have a sexual relationship," Bynum said, and that "through sex, she got closer to Jesus Christ."
"Did you feel closer to Jesus Christ?" Assistant State's Attorney Julie Drake asked.
"No, ma'am," Bynum said.
Antoinette said the Bible doesn't mention that sex allows people to get closer to Jesus.
"Did you not think it strange," she asked, "for someone to say something like that to you?"
"Yes," Bynum said.
"What did you do about it?"
"I didn't do anything about it," Bynum said. "If I did anything, I ended the relationship."
Antoinette also got Bynum to detail his financial support for her and her followers. He said he paid her rent and utilities, bought furniture for her and sometimes gave her cash. He said she told him she would reimburse him once her businesses were up and running, but he wasn't too worried about getting the money back.
"It was more or less like a charity-type thing," he said.
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