Pastor of Secretive N.Y. Church Faces Murder Charge for Teen's Death
The pastor involved in a mysterious New York church beating that left one teen dead and the other teen in severe condition appeared in court this week after being charged with murder.
Pastor Tiffanie Irwin, her mother Traci Irwin, and her two brothers Joseph and Daniel were four of eight suspects indicted this week in the second degree murder of 19-year-old Lucas Leonard, who was allegedly beaten to death during a bizarre spiritual counseling session at the Word of Life Christian Church in New Hartford, New York on October 12.
Two more members of the church, David and Linda Morey, were also indicted on charges of murder.
Along with the pastor's family members, the victim's parents and half-sister are also facing charges of manslaughter for their alleged involvement in the beating.
Lucas' brother, 17-year-old Christopher, was also severely beaten in the attack but managed to survive.
Authorities say that the alleged "spiritual counseling" session that took place in the evening of October 12 reportedly revolved around the teens' desire to leave the secretive church.
The boys were reportedly told to repent for their sins and then beaten for hours with a folded electric cable.
According to Syracuse.com, the actions of the eight people recently indicted on charges of murder "[evinced] a depraved indifference to human life" that "created a grave risk of death to another person [...] thereby caus(ing) the death of another person."
The lawyer of the deceased teen's mother, Deborah Leonard, said his client was too "meek" to stop her fellow congregants from beating her children and that she didn't think the beating would be fatal.
