At least one friend of a suspect accused of setting fires inside a church and synagogue alleged the purported perpetrator had been worshipping Satan and practicing witchcraft before the shocking incidents.
Kimorah Parker, 30, of New Britain, Connecticut, is accused of starting the fires last Friday inside St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church and Congregation Tephereth Israel, a synagogue.
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Pastor Mark Valigorsky of St. Matthew’s Lutheran Church told WTNH-TV the suspect allegedly put items on the stove, turned it on, and fled after purportedly throwing a church planter through a window to get inside.
“It is a hate crime, if you will, that someone would do this,” Valigorsky told the outlet.
This week, the accused appeared in court, where the individual’s friends weighed in on the tragic situation.
Caleb Newburry, a man described as a friend of Parker, said he believes the accused is “losing her grip on reality” and is in the midst of a “mental breakdown,” according to WSFB-TV.
Another friend named Luis Malava offered additional purported claims surrounding the suspect’s life.
“She starting worshipping Santeria and witchcraft … and that’s all that stuff and that’s what she’s practicing. And that’s what she is putting in her home,” he said. “She is taking elements from our streets, breaking them and using them as part of rituals. … She said that it’s time for the world to change.”
Malava said he hopes Parker can “change” and expressed his wish for the accused to “do right.”
“Burning churches isn’t righteous. You already burned the Bible,” he said. “I just hope that God can touch you anointedly while you’re in there and make a change for you.”
Parker, who was arrested Saturday on third-degree arson and third-degree burglary charges, is reportedly on suicide watch and held on a $260,000 bond.
The accused was reportedly already a person of interest in additional church burning incidents, according to The Day.
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