Fundamentalists Christians beat teens until one dies, but the survivor to testify

NEW YORK TIMES
By Associated Press

The Word of Life church occupies a former schoolhouse in New Hartford, N.Y., about 100 miles west of Albany.

NEW YORK---A 17-year-old boy who was brutally beaten inside a church alongside his older brother was released from the hospital and planned to testify at a hearing against at least one of his attackers, the authorities said on Monday. The boy, Christopher Leonard, and his 19-year-old brother, Lucas, were pummeled with fists and kicked on Sunday, Oct. 11, and into Monday morning by their parents, a half sister and other members of their small and secretive church to get them to confess their sins and seek forgiveness, the authorities contend. Lucas Leonard died in the beating. [link]