Leader of spiritual group facing murder charges accused of saying God spoke through her

A former member of a religious group in California testified in court this week that its leader - who is charged with murder in the death of a four-year-old boy and a missing former follower - claimed to be prophetess and that God spoke through her.

In a San Bernardino Superior Court on Thursday, Kelli Byrd offered a rare look inside His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, a group that authorities and former members describe as “cult-like,” according to The Los Angeles Times.

Byrd told the court Thursday that Shelley Bailey “Kat” Martin referred to herself as “Prophetess Kathryn,” claimed to be the physical embodiment of the Holy Spirit and that God spoke directly through her.

Martin, 62, her husband Pastor Darryl Muzic Martin, and Andre Thomas are charged with murder in the death of Andre’s four-year-old son Timothy Thomas, who died of a ruptured appendix while in the temporary custody of the Martins in 2010, according to the Colton Police Department.

Separately, Martin, Rudy Moreno, 43, and Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr., 44, are charged with murdering former member Emilio Ghanem, who disappeared in 2023 shortly after parting ways with the group. They have all pleaded not guilty.

open image in gallery

Martin, who appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court along with her four co-defendants for a preliminary hearing on Thursday, sat silently as Byrd testified about how Martin would enter what members called a “gift of prophecy.”

“Her body would start thrashing and her voice would become deep and low as she shared ‘a word from the throne of God,’” Byrd said.

Prosecutors allege Martin and Moreno murdered former member Ghanem, who disappeared from Redlands in 2023 after leaving the group. The motive was greed, they said.

His case was initially treated as a missing person investigation until evidence, which included a burned vehicle found in the Mojave Desert, led detectives to classify it as a homicide.

Martin, her husband, and Andre Thomas are also charged in the 2010 death of Thomas’ son Timothy, who died of a ruptured appendix while in the Martins’ temporary custody. Prosecutors said child neglect led to his “very painful death.”

At the time, authorities suspected neglect but declined to file charges, citing uncooperative witnesses and conflicting testimony.

open image in gallery

open image in gallery

Former members later recanted their statements, saying they testified under pressure from the Martins, according to Colton Police Sgt. Shawn McFarland.

The arrests came after police departments in Redlands, Colton and Claremont connected their open cases last year and launched a joint investigation.

Martin, her husband, Moreno and Thomas were arrested in December. Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr. was arrested in Nashville in January and extradited to San Bernardino County.

Details of the His Way Spirit Led Assemblies group have since emerged, with former members claiming that the group controlled nearly every aspect of their lives.

The Independent has reached out to His Way Spirit Led Assemblies and the defendants’ attorneys for comment.

open image in gallery

His Way Spirit Led Assemblies was founded in Nashville in 1998, moved to California in 2000 and operated from homes across the Inland Empire in Southern California for decades, Byrd testified.

Anthony Duran, the nephew of defendant Ramon Duran, told The Los Angeles Times that he escaped the group in 2020 at age 20.

“You had no choice in anything,” he said. “You can’t go here. You can’t go there. You can only go to work and come home.”

They were told not to read the Bible, Duran said, but instead, church leaders would teach them. Martin would tell members that she, as the so-called “Prophetess,” “carried the spirit” so heavily that she was barely able to walk, it’s claimed.

“She was God,” Duran told The LA Times.

Authorities have also linked the group to the 2019 disappearance of Ruben Moreno, Rudy Moreno’s brother, who vanished from a Claremont home that he shared with other group members.

No charges have been filed in that case, according to Claremont Police Capt. Robert Ewing, who said the investigation remains ongoing,