News Brief
Restrained boy dies in church

Milwaukee - An 8-year-old boy died while being restrained during a church prayer service held to heal him.  Ray Hemphill, a minister of Faith Temple Apostolic Church, was arrested.

According to Bishop David Hemphill Sr., church members prayed over Torrance Cantrell for more than an hour, asking God to release the evil spirits that caused the boy's illness, until someone noticed he was not moving and called 9-1-1.

Bishop Hemphill said, "The boy just had a problem in his mind, and what we were doing was asking God to fix it.  He chose to fix it by taking him back home to him."

He added that church members "use sheets to keep the boy from scratching himself and others" but the boy was allowed to sit "any way that he feels comfortable."

Police Captain Linda Haynes said she did not believe that the boy had been struck during the service.  "If he died, which I highly doubt, of some natural cause," she said, Ray Hemphill "won't be charged with anything too serious."