The Exorcism Murder of Kennedy Ife

Kennedy’s parents restrained him to a bed under the belief he had become possessed by an evil spirit. He died three days later.

Kennedy Ife experienced a sore throat. Afterward, the 26-year-old marketing consultant began to act aggressively, according to the family. He bit his father, threatened to cut off his own penis, and claimed a python was inside of him. Under the belief Kennedy had been possessed by a demon, his family restrained him to a bed with cable ties to perform an exorcism.

The family called in a priest to check on Kennedy. He said Kennedy appeared as though he had a fever. Over the next three days, the family, including his parents, Kenneth and Josephine, and five brothers, Colin, Samuel, Harry, Daniel, and Roy, kept him restrained to the bed and prayed over Kennedy.

Colin, his brother, told police:

“It’s clear that thing was in him, what we believed was a demon because it was not natural. It was clearly trying to kill him. We had to restrain him for himself. It was clear if we didn't restrain him, he could have tried to harm people in our family.”

Kennedy was left restrained to the bed without medical attention for the next three days. One of his brothers called 9–1–1 on day three, explaining that Kennedy was complaining of dehydration. When police and paramedics arrived at the home, Colin was carrying out an “attempted resurrection” by chanting and praying for his brother.

He developed breathing problems shortly thereafter and passed away at 10:17 a.m. An autopsy revealed more than 60 wounds on Kennedy’s body, including a bite mark.

All seven of the Ife family members were accused of manslaughter in Kennedy’s death, as well as false imprisonment and causing or allowing the death of a vulnerable adult.

Four of Kennedy’s brothers as well as his father Kenneth also suffered injuries about the body. Explaining the injuries, Kenneth told jurors at his trial that he and his sons took shifts watching over Kennedy and that he told them to use “overwhelming force” to remove the evil forces from Kennedy’s body.

In March 2019 after four days of deliberations, all seven family members were cleared of wrongdoing.