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Exorcism call ends in death

Published 9:00 pm Sunday, July 29, 2007

PHOENIX – Police officers responding to a report of an exorcism on a 3-year-old girl found her grandfather choking her and used stun guns to subdue the man, who later died, authorities said Sunday.

A bloody, naked 19-year-old woman, who police later determined to be Marquez’s daughter and the girl’s mother, was in the room, chanting “something that was religious in nature,” Sgt. Joel Tranter.

Police found Marquez choking his bloodied granddaughter, who was crying in pain and gasping, Tranter said.

He said the grandfather was stunned twice before he released the girl, who was gasping and crying in pain, and shortly afterward he stopped breathing. He was pronounced dead at the hospital.