Accused woman is religious but not crazy, doctor says

NEWTON, N.J. (RNS) A woman accused of starving her four children may be a deeply devout Christian, but her strong beliefs don’t mean she suffers from a mental illness, a psychiatrist testified on Wednesday (Jan. 20). Estelle Walker, 50, of Manhattan is on trial in New Jersey on four counts of second-degree child endangerment for […]

NEWTON, N.J. (RNS) A woman accused of starving her four children may be a deeply devout Christian, but her strong beliefs don’t mean she suffers from a mental illness, a psychiatrist testified on Wednesday (Jan. 20).

Estelle Walker, 50, of Manhattan is on trial in New Jersey on four counts of second-degree child endangerment for allegedly starving her four children in 2006 when she lived in a cabin provided by her church.

“She’s extremely religious, to an extreme degree, but I could not diagnose any psychiatric disorders,” psychiatrist Azariah Eshkenazi testified. “Her extremely strong faith is not a delusion.” he said.


Under cross-examination by public defender Ronald Nicola, who noted Walker also did not eat regularly after her church cut off financial support to her family, Eshkenazi testified she never meant to hurt her children.

“I don’t think she ever intended to harm her children … she just followed a strong faith,” said Eshkenazi, who examined Walker last month and who was the second mental health expert to testify in the trial.

Judge N. Peter Conforti said there was “no evidence” presented during the trial, which began Dec. 1, that Walker’s church, the Manhattan-based Times Square Church, could be held at least partially responsible for Walker’s actions.

Walker and four of her children — aged 8, 9, 11 and 13 — were temporarily placed in the lakefront New Jersey cabin by her church in 2005 to escape her husband, who Walker claims was an alcoholic.

But when it came time for Walker to leave the cabin in May 2006, she refused and told church officials God told her to stay. The church then cut off her support and began eviction proceedings, and the family began running low on food.

Walker was arrested July 25, 2006, after she and her children, including an 18-year-old daughter, were found to be emaciated. She faces up to 40 years in prison if convicted on all counts.


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