Mom sent to mental hospital for killing 2 kids in exorcism

ROCKVILLE, Md. — A Maryland woman who pleaded guilty to killing two of her children and injuring two of their siblings in what she believed was an exorcism in 2014 will go to a psychiatric hospital not prison.

Judge Terrence McGann ruled Thursday that Zakieya Avery of Germantown, Maryland, was not criminally responsible in the deaths of her children. Avery pleaded guilty Monday to two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of attempted first-degree murder.

Avery's roommate, Monifa Sanford, who participated in the killings, previously took a plea deal in the case that committed her to a psychiatric hospital. Sanford said that the women stabbed the children because they believed they were possessed by demons.