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. Members lived together in two different homes in Baltimore and were told what to wear, ordered to shun medical care and restricted from venturing outside alone, authorities say.
The three defendants are representing themselves at trial, leading to a bizarre spectacle in which Antoinette cross-examined her former lover and one of her former followers, who said she felt "reprogrammed" after joining Antoinette's household.
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.
"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.
Ramkissoon was part of the group and has pleaded guilty to child abuse resulting in death. She is expected to testify Wednesday against Antoinette, Williams and Cobbs. 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.
"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."
Tiffany Smith, who also lived with Antoinette and her followers along with her young son, testified Tuesday afternoon that she burned her state identification card and cut off contact with her family after joining the household. She became pregnant with a second child by Antoinette's then-17-year-old son.
Under Antoinette's orders, "I was not to go to the hospital, I was not to receive any prenatal care, I was to have the baby there," Smith said. She gave birth to a healthy baby girl in the house.
Under cross-examination from Antoinette, Smith provided some insight into Antoinette's psychological hold over her followers, describing herself as "slightly reprogrammed."
Antoinette asked Smith why she wanted to leave her mother's house.
"You convinced me that my mother was a very evil person and somehow did not have my best interests at heart," Smith told Antoinette. "I guess I was somewhat weak-minded."
Smith said she was evicted from the household about two weeks after her daughter was born. She left her children behind and returned with police officers two days later to collect them. When Smith returned home, her mother did not know she had been pregnant
"I was instructed not to tell her" about the pregnancy, Smith said.
"Who instructed you?" Antoinette asked.
"You did," Smith said.
