GAINESVILLE — A woman responsible for the 1980s deaths of two young children has died 42 days into her prison term, according to news reports.
Anna Young once ran a Florida religious group described as a cult by prosecutors. One toddler was abused and starved, and another child was denied medication.
The 79-year-old’s death was confirmed by the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office, First Coast News reported Wednesday.
Young’s daughter told First Coast News that “Young was in the ICU on oxygen at a local hospital Monday night.”
Young was sentenced in February after pleading no contest to second-degree murder and negligent manslaughter, according to Alachua County court records. She received a prison sentence of 30 years.
Young operated the House of Prayer cult near Gainesville in the 1980s and 1990s. She caused the death of a toddler named Emon Harper sometime between 1988 and 1989 through abuse and starvation, prosecutors said.
Prosecutors later added a manslaughter charge for the death of Katonya Jackson, who died in 1983 after being denied medication.
“In Young’s dark interpretation of the Pentecostal faith, former members said Young, known as ‘Mother Anna’ would torture and abuse members for their sins of by starving, caging and whipping them with extension cords,” First Coast News reported.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
