Ex-congregant links Inland Empire religious group’s ‘Prophetess’ leader to deaths in murder case 

Shelley “Kat” Martin, leader of the Inland Empire-based His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, concocted a cover story after a 4-year-old boy whose ruptured appendix was treated with nothing more than prayer died in 2010, a former congregant testified on Monday, Feb. 9.

That ex-congregant, Kelli Byrd, also testified in Superior Court in San Bernardino about 40-year-old Emilio Ghanem, who departed the church and formed his own pest control company in competition with one operated by the church and hasn’t been seen since 2023, when he vanished from a Starbucks in Redlands. Prosecutors say they believe he is dead.

“He was scared they were going to come after him,” Byrd said. “He was scared Kat was going to send someone after him for coming after the ministry.”

Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker told Judge Colin J. Bilash: “The motive for the murder of Emilio Ghanem is directly related to the business he started.”

Byrd testified for the third day in the preliminary hearing for five church members who are accused of murder. Testimony is set to continue Tuesday. Bilash will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to hold them for trial.

Shelley Martin, 62, who calls herself “Prophetess,” is charged with two counts of murder in the disappearance of Ghanem and the other in the death of Timothy Thomas, who was living with Martin and her husband Darryl in Colton when he died; and conspiracy to commit murder. Her husband, Darryl Martin, 58, is charged with murder in Timothy’s death.

Rudy Moreno, 43, and Ramon Duran, 44, are charged with murdering Ghanem and conspiracy to commit murder. Timothy’s father, Andre Thomas, 49, is charged with murder in his son’s death.

All have pleaded not guilty.

Byrd, who is in her 40s, choked up when Crocker projected a photo of Timothy and his mother, Iris, on the courtroom screen. The mother had left the church at some point.

Byrd testified that while Timothy’s parents lived in one home in Colton, he and his four siblings lived with the Martins in another.

“They were given temporary custody,” Byrd said without elaborating.

The church also has a base in Hemet that Redlands police raided in August seeking evidence in Ghanem’s disappearance.

She said Timothy was hospitalized about one month after moving in. About four days before Timothy’s death, Andre Thomas called her to report that Timothy was throwing up. Byrd said she told him to give Timothy 7-Up or crackers to settle down his stomach and seek medical attention if the boy did not improve. She said she did not suggest praying for Timothy.

Byrd testified that while Martin did not explicitly discourage congregants from seeking medical care, she and her husband would praise those who appeared to heal themselves simply through prayer.

“(Martin said) there is a time and a purpose and a season for everything,” Byrd said. “We were gravely encouraged to use our faith. … We had the power of healing in our tongues. … If I cut my finger deeply, I could pray over it. ‘In the name of Jesus, I am healed.’ Anything you could go to a doctor for as well.”

Byrd said she saw Timothy at a service on the Wednesday before he died on a Saturday. She initially testified that Timothy appeared healthy as he slept beneath a glass table, but after Crocker reminded her that she told Colton police something else, she acknowledged saying that the boy appeared “lethargic.”

Still, at that service, the boy’s father believed his son was improving.

“He stood up to offer a testimony. …. and he said he had prayed over his son for healing and he spoke in the name of Jesus over his son and he saw his son getting better. He truly believed God had healed his son,” Byrd testified.

Afterward, Byrd said, Shelley Martin took her aside and criticized her for not including prayer along with her advice to Andre Thomas. She did not push back.

“I was fearful to respond because of consequences. I knew I had messed up. That the spirit of the Lord and Prophetess Kathryn were not pleased with how I handled the phone call.”

The day before Timothy died, Byrd again saw him at a park. While nine other children played, Timothy sat. His father was not present, Byrd said.

“He just wasn’t Timo,” Byrd recalled.

The next day, Shelley Martin took aside several high-ranking church members, including herself, and told them Timothy had died.

“The Lord has told (Martin) that Timo had died because of Iris’ disobedience, leaving the church for the streets, that we were given all the same story,” that Timothy had been with his father all week, Byrd testified. “If we did not keep those stories, there would be major consequences for our souls.”

Byrd said she and other congregants wrote statements to Colton police that were not true.

Crocker asked her how she felt about Thomas.

“Honest answer? I consider him a victim of his faith being taken advantage of,” Byrd replied.

The Martins were detained briefly but celebrated when they were not arrested, Byrd said.

“Now they’re after y’all, and we’re in the clear,” Byrd testified Shelley Martin said. “And she waylaid me across the face a couple of times. … It was the voice of the Lord through Kathryn Martin.”

It wasn’t until 2025 that witnesses came forward with new information and the Martins and Thomas were accused of killing Timothy.

The Martins had sat motionless through much of the three days of Byrd’s testimony, but both took notes on yellow legal pads when Byrd suggested they had culpability in the deaths.

Byrd also recounted being “kicked out” of the church along with daughter Gabriel in June 2015. It was her husband, Tim, and not the Martins, who informed them. But she was never given a reason for her ouster, Byrd said.

“The Lord said he is sending you and Gabriel to Nashville,” her husband told her. “You have 15 minutes to pack.”

Tim drove the pair to a bus station and handed her some cash: $666.

“Six six six. The number of the devil. The number of the flesh. Satan,” Byrd testified.

She divorced her husband six months later.