Josef Smith is the guy from the church remnant Fellowship murdered by his parents. His case came to light after the release of the HBO show.
Josef was repeatedly abused, according to investigators. In the documentary, his former babysitter claims she was told to beat the youngster at church and saw the abuse alongside many others.
According to prosecutors, Josef Smith’s parents, Joseph and Sonya Smith, were accused of abusing their son. Before he died in October 2003, they locked him in a wooden box. Smiths’ couple also confined him to a closet for hours at a time.
Who Is Josef Smith Remnant Fellowship?
Josef Smith of the Remnant Fellowship is an eight-year-old boy murdered by his parents in 2003.
Gwen Shamblin Lara, a Christian diet guru, was reportedly killed in a plane crash on May 29, along with six other people. Out of her weight-loss regimen, Shamblin formed the Remnant Fellowship Church. She has always been at the center of controversy, beginning with The Weigh Down Workshop in the 1980s.
Shamblin’s church in Brentwood was probed in the 2003 abuse and death of an eight-year-old kid named Josef Smith, so turning weight reduction into a religious movement wasn’t the only contentious aspect of her career.
The inquiry into the parents led to the government investigating and raiding Shamblin’s Remnant Fellowship Church, which was immediately dubbed a cult by former members.
The church’s officials were accused of supporting punishments such as slapping youngsters with gluesticks and putting them in their rooms with just a Bible for company.
According to the Remnant Fellowship Church, Josef had a bacterial infection, and some of the markings on his body were caused by eczema-related self-scratching.
Josef Smith- Death Cause Revealed
Josef Smith was killed by a strike to the head, according to the authorities.
Joseph and Sonya Smith, a suburban Atlanta couple, were found guilty in 2003 of murdering their kid as a punishment. The Smiths were members of the Nashville chapter of the church. For the crime, they were sentenced to life in jail plus 30 years.
Prosecutors claimed that the kid was imprisoned in a wooden box. Before his death in October 2003, he was confined to a closet for hours at a time.
The boy was also allegedly abused regularly, according to authorities. Murder, aggravated violence, cruelty to children, and false imprisonment were the charges leveled against his parents.
Meet Josef Smith Parents Joseph and Sonya Smith
Joseph Smith and Sonya Smith are Josef Smith’s parents.
They were Church Remnant Fellowship members. They were a part of the weight-loss plan.
The church’s support for corporal punishment was revealed. While police investigated the church’s involvement in the punishment testified that they couldn’t discover a religious relationship to the death, the church’s founder expressed sympathy for the parents.
They are currently doing time in jail for the murder of their 8-year-old son.