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A convicted felon has been shot dead by law enforcement after attacking a Florida deputy with a rod and burning his girlfriend’s 9-year-old son
because he believed the child was “possessed by a demon,” authorities
said.

First responders who arrived in the city of Sebring for a report of a suspicious roadside debris fire around 4 p.m. Tuesday were confronted by 39-year-old Richard Ham brandishing a pair of metal poles, according to a
press release from the Highland County Sheriff’s Office.

Ham and his girlfriend, Lakenya Phillips, 30, had been torching the
possessions of the woman’s 9-year-old son, whom the man thought to be “possessed by a demon.”

Witnesses told investigators that Ham pushed the boy into the fire and
covered him with a flaming blanket, but the child managed to escape
without serious injuries.

Deputies who raced to the scene ordered Ham to surrender, but he allegedly refused to comply with their commands, prompting them to tase him.

The taser, however, appeared to have no effect on Ham, who struck a deputy
with one of the rods in his hands, the sheriff’s office stated.

A deputy then opened fire on Ham and mortally wounded him.

The suspect was taken to a hospital, where he later died.

The officer who was bludgeoned in the head was treated at another hospital
and released.

Meanwhile, cops arrested Phillips, who had been listed along with her son
as missing and endangered out of Wichita, Kansas, two weeks ago.

It is unknown how or why the two ended up nearly 1,500 miles away in
Sebring, Florida.

The woman’s son, who is in the custody of the Department of Children and Families, said he had not bathed or brushed his teeth in at least 10 days,
and had not been fed for at least 24 hours.

According to the 9-year-old, both his mom and her boyfriend had regularly
used drugs, and he said Ham had threatened him with a large knife, which
he claimed “he had used to kill someone,” officials said, adding that they
were working with colleagues in other states to follow up on that
statement.

Multiple guns and drugs were found in the vehicle Ham and Phillips were traveling in, the sheriff’s office said.

Phillips was subsequently charged with attempted murder of a law
enforcement officer, battery on a law enforcement officer, resisting
arrest with violence and cruelty toward a child.

During her initial court appearance Wednesday, prosecutors told a judge
they will also be seeking a felony murder charge against Phillips,
claiming that her actions contributed to Ham’s death.

She was ordered jailed without bond.

Ham had an extensive criminal history that included convictions for armed felonies and drug possession in Arkansas, South Carolina and Georgia.

https://nypost.com/2023/12/21/news/man-shot-dead-by-cops-after-burning- possessed-boy/

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