Vegetarian says he was trying to knock the demon out of his son when he ate meat

A southwest Harris County man who is accused of beating his 3-year old son said the child had been invaded by demons after he ate meat, a prosecutor said yesterday.

Jacky Tran, 35, is charged with injury to child with serious bodily injury, a first-degree felony. He is being held in the county jail on $100,000 bail. If convicted, he could face up to 20 years in prison.



During a court hearing before state District Judge Debbie Mantooth Stricklin, prosecutors said that Tran, a vegetarian, thought some meat his son ate caused demons to enter the boy.

"The defendant said eating meat will cause demons in the child," said Assistant Harris County District Attorney Angela Weltin said during the hearing.



Weltin also told Stricklin that a deputy who was dispatched to the home saw the child's mother in the tub with the boy bathing his swollen face with water to soothe him.

"The mother kept repeating it was demons in the child," Weltin said in court. The mother, Phung Tran, 36, has been charged with injury to a child. She is in the Harris County jail without bail and is scheduled to appear in court today.

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