A 16-year-old girl died after a ritual at a Las Vegas church in which she was given a poisonous substance prior to fasting, a lawsuit alleges.
The Church of Divine Appointment, also known as The Moment of Truth Ministries Inc., and two officials there were sued this week in Clark County District Court by Bridgette Jennings-Benbo, mother of Brianna Benbo.
The suit says Brianna, of North Las Vegas, died on July 8, 2010.
Four hours before her death, while a parishioner attending services at the church, she was induced to take medication “prefatory to a religious ritual fast,” the suit says.
The medication, unknown to the girl, contained bee pollen “and certain other chemical compounds which were toxic and poisonous,” the suit says, adding that the girl suffered respiratory and cardiac arrest and died within four hours of consuming the substance.
Calling the circumstances a “zealous religious fasting ritual,” the mother’s attorneys accused the church of wrongful death and negligence. They also alleged product liability.
The church formulated certain compounds and chemicals into capsulated form and these products were “unreasonably dangerous for use by the public,” the suit charges.
The suit seeks unspecified general, punitive and exemplary damages.
Church Pastor Glories Powell along with Lula Davis were named as defendants in the suit as alleged owners or managers of the church.
Powell said Sunday that Brianna had asthma and that while she may have been fasting or been on a cleansing diet on her own, the church had nothing to do with her death and is not involved in rituals.
"We didn't give her anything," Powell said, adding the church was devastated by the loss of Brianna and that her mother filed the suit after being influenced by "outside forces."
Powell said she's counseled church members not to be critical of Brianna's mother for filing suit as Jennings-Benbo is still healing.
The church is at 2027 North H St., Suite F, near West Lake Mead Boulevard and Interstate 15, the lawsuit says.