Mother who 'murdered daughter after God told her she was possessed by the devil' is found NOT guilty because of mental illness

A Nantucket woman who killed her three-year-old daughter because she thought the girl was possessed by the devil was found not criminally responsible because of mental illness.
Dora Tejada, 28, was found not guilty by a judge today in Nantucket Superior Court and instead committed to a state mental health institution for six months of observation and treatment.
She will be re-evaluated after that to determine whether she should stay in custody or be released with conditions.
Tejada, a housecleaner originally from El Salvador, suffocated three-year-old Nicole Garcia inside their home in March 2011, authorities said.

Suffering bipolar: Dora Tejada (pictured at court) all concluded that her extreme bipolar disorder and psychosis left her unable to understand her actions

Tejada told investigators God told her to push a rose in the girl's throat to exorcise the devil.

Tejada also shoved her fist down the girl's throat, police said. A medical examiner determined that the cause of death was homicidal asphyxia.

Three forensic psychologists hired by the defense, prosecution and the court to evaluate Tejada all concluded that her extreme bipolar disorder and psychosis left her unable to understand her actions and conform her behavior to the law on the day she killed her daughter, the Cape Cod Times reported.
'Usually, with a lack of criminal responsibility, you don't get three experts that agree,' James Caramanica, Tejada's lawyer, said outside court after the verdict.
'But this case was so clear to everyone involved.'

Found not guilty: Dora Tejada was found not guilty by a judge Wednesday in Nantucket Superior Court (pictured) and ordered committed to a state mental health institution

Prosecutors did not challenge the decision.
'All the evidence - the testimony, the physical evidence, everything - it all supported the experts' finding in this case,' Assistant District Attorney Sharon Thibeault said
During the three-day trial, friends and relatives described Tejada as a loving and responsible mother whose religious convictions increased after she attended a retreat about a week before the killing.
One psychologist also noted that Tejada had suffered from chronic depression for about a decade and had a traumatic childhood in El Salvador.
Police were called to the house of Pleitez in March, 2011, who told authorities the Holy Spirit can speak through her, and found Nicole lying on a table inside.

Discovered: Police found Nicole lying on a table inside the Nantucket house

Pleitez originally told police she fell from a sofa in her home in Massachusetts with Nicole whilst asleep and woke up to people asking if anybody had hurt her daughter.
She sang and prayed while being questioned, and when left alone in the interview room she assumed a crucifixion pose for several minutes, police said.
But she was taken to hospital after investigators saw skin hanging off of her hand.
Pleitez then said during treatment that she stuck a rose down her daughter's throat to rid her of demons because God told her to do it, according to court records.
However she later explained to her pastor Carlos Patiño Villa that the rose was actually her fist and the devil bit her hand through Nicole, investigators said.
Pink roses and rose petals were allegedly found on the floor of the home's living room and her son may have also been in danger, reported the Cape Cod Times.
She said through a Spanish translator that she had ‘thought about fighting the demons out of both children and that at one point had a child in each arm’.

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