Two teenagers have been charged with killing a 15-year-old girl in an attempt to make a deal with the devil.
Corriann Cervantes was found dead in a vacant apartment in Houston, Texas, on Saturday with an upside down crucifix carved into her stomach.
The sickening murder, believed to be motivated by an occult ritual, has been branded "sadistic" by officials.
Seventeen-year-old Jose E Reyes and a 16-year-old boy have been charged with capital murder over her death.
Jose E Reyes
TOP STORIES TODAY
Authorities say that after the boys lured Cervantes to a vacant apartment in southeast Houston on February 5th, they sexually assaulted her, hit her with an ashtray, a toilet tank lid and a window blind rod, strangled her and also stabbed her in the face with a screwdriver.
Harris County prosecutor John Jordan said Reyes told his 16-year-old friend he had sold his soul to the devil, and that if they killed Corriann, his friend could sell his soul as well.
The trapped young girl screamed "why are you doing this to me?" the prosecutor said. Because of the extent of her injuries her exact cause of death has still not been established.
"What happened in that vacant apartment was sadistic. What will eventually happen in the ... courtroom will be justice," Jordan told reporters Tuesday.
Reyes is being held without bond at the Harris County jail. At his home, "there were some signs of devil worship and things of that nature," Jordan said.
The 16-year-old, who has not been identified because of his age, is being held at a juvenile detention facility.