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Woman Dies After Voodoo Ritual In N.J. Home

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Jul 14, 2009 7:02 am US/Eastern

Woman Dies After Voodoo Ritual In N.J. Home

GLOUCESTER Twp., N.J. (AP) ― Authorities are investigating how a woman from Arkansas died Sunday in what they call a voodoo cleaning ritual in a southern New Jersey town house.

Prosecutors say 21-year-old Lucille Hamilton of Little Rock was found unresponsive in the Gloucester Township home early Sunday.

Hamilton of Little Rock, Ark., was found unresponsive in a townhouse on the 400 block of Loch Lomond Drive around midnight, said Jason Laughlin, spokesman for the Camden County Prosecutor's Office.

Laughlin said Hamilton was spending the weekend at the home, one of several visitors there for a voodoo cleansing ritual that was supposed to take place from Friday to Sunday.

Six other people, including some children, and the ritual's host were in the townhome at the time. They were all taken to Virtua Hospital in Berlin Township and released. Laughlin would not comment on what treatment, if any, they received. The state was contacted in regards to the children.

An autopsy was scheduled for Sunday, but Laughlin said a cause of death would not be available for several weeks, pending toxicology results.

It was unclear whether the ritual contributed to Hamilton's death, Laughlin said. He added that the death is not considered suspicious, and charges were not expected to be filed.

Neighbors on the quiet, dead-end street where the townhouse is located were hesitant to talk on Sunday. Several acknowledged that "rituals" had taken place in the past, but said the residents of the townhouse were quiet and mostly kept to themselves.




(© 2009 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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