Leader of Hemet-based religious group struck congregant with microphone for disobedience, woman testifies at hearing in double-murder case

Kelli Byrd knew she was in trouble.

She had violated one of the tenets of the Hemet-based His Way Spirit Led Assemblies: Do not question or ignore an order from Shelley “Kat” Martin, the Head Prophetess or, as Byrd has testified, a self-proclaimed oracle who speaks for God.

Years ago, Byrd had learned from her then-10-year-old daughter that the son of a congregant had inappropriately touched a girl. Byrd then told her, against Martin’s wishes, to report any repeat offenses.

So in 2013, Byrd testified on Friday, Feb. 6, in the preliminary hearing for five defendants in a double-murder case, she found herself at one end of the worship room in a Colton home and some 20 other congregants at the other.

“(Martin is) totally flailing, coming down the aisle and speaking with the voice of the Lord: ‘The audacity. THE AUDACITY,’ ” Byrd said, quoting Martin in a loud and deep voice that jolted the San Bernardino Justice Center courtroom. “And she beat me with the microphone,” causing bleeding.

“You know the most. You suffer the most,” Martin screamed, according to Byrd

Martin then said she “released” Byrd’s husband, Tim, from their marriage and claimed him for herself.

“She said, ‘I win, you lose,’ ” Byrd said.

Byrd’s testimony on Friday came on the second day of the hearing to determine whether there is sufficient evidence to hold the defendants for trial.

Martin, 62, is charged with two counts of murder, one for the 2023 disappearance and apparent death of former congregant Emilio Ghanem, 40, and the other for the 2010 death of 4-year-old Timothy Thomas, who authorities say died in the care of the Martins; as well as conspiracy to commit murder. Her husband, Darryl “Muzic” Martin, 58, is charged with murder in Thomas’ death.

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

All have pleaded not guilty.

After Friday’s hearing, the Martins’ attorney, Eugene Carson, urged those following the case to withhold judgment until all the evidence is presented.

“We’re going to fight to prove their innocence. … This case is about credibility,” Carson said.

San Bernardino County Deputy District Attorney Justin Crocker is eliciting from Byrd the history of the religious order starting in the late 1990s in an attempt to show Superior Court Judge Colin J. Bilash that Shelley Martin grew increasingly controlling and violent — perhaps enough to order a killing.

“This case is built around the control these two (Martins) have over these individuals emotionally and physically,” Crocker told Bilash.

Byrd again testified with a witness advocate and the DA’s comfort dog, a black Labrador named Schroeder, by her side. She often paused before answering, appearing to look in the Martins’ direction, and sometimes cried. As on Thursday, the Martins did not outwardly react to Byrd’s testimony.

After the improper touching of a girl, Byrd said, “I told Kathryn Martin. She said the Lord said my daughter was lying to me. For the first time, I went against her. And I told my daughter to tell me if anything happens again.”

In an apparent attempt to underscore the control the Martins had over their congregation, which eventually reached about 30 people, Crocker asked Byrd whether any of the congregants — who Byrd said she considered family that she loved with “all my heart” — came to her aid after Martin attacked her.

None did.

She did smile when she recalled the Martins ordaining her and her husband as ministers at Walt Disney World in 2005.

“It made me feel honored,” Byrd testified.

But around 2007, about seven years after the order relocated to Orange County from Tennessee, the Martins changed how they treated her.

“I was put in punishment by Katheryn Martin and Muzic Martin. That means the privileges that were given within the ministry were stripped from me,” Byrd said, even as she was being elevated in the church hierarchy, eventually attaining the status of Prophetess among the Apostles, Ministers and Pastors. Crocker projected an organizational chart on a courtroom screen.

She was allowed to do little other than eat, sleep and pray. The Martins prohibited Byrd from driving and restricted which services she could attend. While she lived in one home in Colton with Duran and his wife, Byrd’s husband and two daughters resided nearby.

“I didn’t see my children for two and a half years,” Byrd testified.

Gradually, some privileges were restored, Byrd said, as “members at the outreach started asking where I was.”

Byrd was eventually allowed to say “Hello” to her children at services, but nothing else.

Crocker asked Byrd who gave those orders.

“That came from the voice of the Lord through Kathryn Martin,” she replied.

Byrd said congregants would be punished if they violated the “nine dots,” which were daily tasks assigned by the Martins such as making breakfast, preparing the children for school and worshipping. Once, Byrd testified, she made a meal that didn’t turn out right.

“I smirked and I got slapped by Kathryn Martin in front of everybody. Kathryn Martin said it wasn’t her, it was the voice of the Lord,” Byrd said.

Byrd estimated that Martin hit her a half-dozen times over the 15 years she was with the order and struck her children as well. She was “kicked out” in 2015 for reasons she has yet to explain.

Even Darryl Martin couldn’t escape his wife’s wrath, Byrd said.

“He had to walk with his eyes down (in public) because the voice of the Lord told him that he had a problem with looking at other women,” Byrd testified.

The hearing is set to resume on Monday.