The leader of a group similar to the one accused of murder said God spoke to him, a former member said

Shelley Bailey “Kat” Martin taught members of her secret cult that she was like the character Neo from The Matrix – who was resurrected from this realm by God and transformed into a perfect human, according to testimony from a former member.

The self-proclaimed “Prophetess” appeared in San Bernardino Superior Court Thursday for a hearing along with four other defendants to face murder charges in the death of a four-year-old boy and a former gang member. Other defendants are her husband, Darryl Muzic Martin, 58, current member Rudy Moreno, former member Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr. and former member Andre Thomas, prosecutors said.

The Martins are leaders of the His Way Spirit Led Assemblies, a religious group that exerted extreme control over members’ lives and finances and operated for years throughout the Inland Empire, prosecutors said.

Shelley Martin, 62, Rudy Moreno, 43, and Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr., 44, are charged with murdering former member Emilio Ghanem, who disappeared in 2023 shortly after leaving the group. Shelley Martin, Darryl Martin and Andre Thomas are charged with manslaughter in the death of Timothy Thomas, 4, during the Martins’ custody in 2010, according to the Colton Police Department. All have denied the charges.

Attorneys representing the defendants declined to comment to The Times or did not respond to requests for comment.

Former group member Kelli Byrd testified for two hours Thursday, offering a rare glimpse into a cult that has operated in secret for decades.

Byrd told the court that Shelley Martin calls herself Prophetess Kathryn, that she is a personification of the Holy Spirit and that God was speaking directly to her.

When the group gathered to worship the “gift of prophecy” would happen through Shelley Martin. His body would begin to throb and his voice would become deep and low as he shared “the voice from the throne of God,” Byrd said.

Byrd’s description of the powerful prophetess was a stark contrast to Shelley Martin’s angry appearance in court Thursday, where she sat in a forest green jumpsuit, her long blond curls growing out to reveal dark roots. Her husband and the other defendants in the case watched Byrd’s testimony quietly from their seats.

Shelley Martin attended a hearing on charges of two murders linked to the Inland Empire religious group His Way Spirit Led Assemblies at the San Bernardino Justice Center on Thursday.

(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)

His Way Spirit Led Assemblies was founded in Nashville in 1998, moved to California in 2000 and has been located in various homes in the Inland Empire since about 2004, Byrd said.

Former members and law enforcement have described the group as a cult.

“You have no choice in anything,” Anthony Duran, who told the Times in an interview that he escaped the cult in 2020 at the age of 20. “You can’t go here. You can’t go there. Anthony Duran is the nephew of Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr., who is charged with murder.

The group has a decades-long history in the Inland Empire, where it has been linked to two suspected murders and the disappearance of a third person.

In 2010, Timothy Thomas, 4, died of a burst appendix while being held by the Martins at one of the group’s homes in Colton, authorities said. Anthony Duran said the Martins don’t believe in hospitals and say God will heal the sick.

Colton police allege neglect contributed to Timothy’s death and sought criminal charges against the Martins in 2010, but the district attorney’s office declined to file any charges. At the time, the gang members were uncooperative and gave conflicting testimony, according to Colton police Sgt. Shawn McFarland.

Since then, former gang members have revised their statements, saying their initial testimony was made under duress by the Martins, he said.

In 2019, member Ruben Moreno was reported missing from the group’s home in Claremont. Then in 2023, longtime member Emilio Ghanem disappeared shortly after cutting ties with the group, authorities said.

Emilio Ghanem was reported missing in 2023, shortly after breaking up with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies.

(Redlands Police Department)

The investigation into Ruben Moreno’s disappearance is ongoing, and no charges have been filed in the case, according to Claremont Police Capt. Robert Ewing.

Ghanem joined the group in 1998 in Nashville and followed the Martins to California, where he later worked for the pest control group Fullshield, Byrd testified.

Anthony Duran, a member who defected in 2020, said the male members of the group are expected to work long hours at Fullshield to earn less. Byrd said in court that the Martins never did any work for Fullshield.

Anthony Duran said he was paid $12 an hour and required to work up to 17 shifts. She said she was paid in checks but was told she was not allowed to cash them, leaving her without enough money to buy Gatorade or deodorant. Duran did not testify Thursday, but shared details of his time with the team in an interview with The Times.

After years of hard work, Duran said he was able to convince the Martins to allow him to sponsor a work truck in his name. With safe passage, he left at night in early 2020, eager to live a life free of their control, he said.

Timothy Thomas was living at this home in Colton when he had a medical emergency on Jan. 16, 2010. At that time, members of His Way Spirit Led Assemblies lived together in that home.

(Daniel Flesher/Los Angeles Times)

Ghanem left Way Spirit Led Assemblies in April 2023, moved home to Nashville and started his own pest control company, his sister Jennifer Ghanem told The Times. In May 2023, he disappeared from Redlands while visiting the area in an attempt to reconnect with former clients.

The truck he rented for the trip was found burned in the Mojave Desert in 2025, according to the Redlands Police Department.

The group had escaped public scrutiny until last year when three police departments – Redlands, Colton and Claremont – realized they each had open cases connected to the organization and repeated efforts to solve them, resulting in five arrests.

The Martins were arrested in December along with longtime member Rudy Moreno, who is the brother of missing man Ruben Moreno, and former member Andre Thomas, who is the father of the boy who died, authorities said. Ramon Ruiz Duran Jr. he was arrested in Nashville and extradited to San Bernardino in January, according to the Redlands Police Department.

Anthony Duran said he waited until the Martins were locked up to say anything about the group because he feared for his safety.

“I’m very thankful that they got what they deserved,” he said, “because they thought they could come in and destroy people’s lives, take all their money and rob them from their families and think they can get away with it.”