LOS ANGELES — The ambulance siren blared down the quiet residential street where a 4-year-old boy was dying.

When police and paramedics arrived at 1521 Latham St. in Colton, California, they had no clue they were entering the home of a secretive religious group that — years later — would land in the spotlight after two members were reported missing.

Inside the house, police found Timothy Thomas unresponsive with vomit around his mouth, according to an investigative report from the San Bernardino County Sheriff’s Department Coroner Division.

The boy, according to Colton Police Sgt. Shawn McFarland, was in the temporary custody of Darryl Muzic Martin and his wife, Shelly Bailey “Kathryn” Martin — leaders of a religious group called His Way Spirit Led Assemblies.

Timothy died on Jan. 16, 2010 — within an hour of the 911 call, according to the coroner’s report.

McFarland described the group as “cult-like,” echoing language from the coroner’s report. He added that the Martins were “imposing excessive control.” Members would hand over their income to the couple, who doled it out as they saw fit, he said.

In social media and YouTube videos, Darryl Martin identifies himself as the group’s pastor, while Kathryn Martin refers to herself as a prophetess and gifted oracle. The group’s videos showcase an all-night prayer shut-in and emotional religious songs performed by the pastor.

In August, Redlands police raided a Hemet home believed to be used by the group, and recovered ghost guns and automatic rifles, according to department spokesperson Carl Baker. Redlands police also detained the Martins this summer, but no charges have been filed against the couple.

The Martins did not respond to a request for comment, nor did an attorney who has previously represented group members. No one responded to messages sent to email addresses, phone numbers and social media accounts associated with His Way Spirit Led Assemblies. No one answered the door when The Times visited the Hemet home.

Timothy’s cause of death was ruled to be septic shock due to a ruptured appendix, according to the coroner report. Detectives suspect neglect also played a role, McFarland said.

Police recommended charges against Darryl and Kathryn Martin in 2010, but the San Bernardino County district attorney’s office declined to file any.

At the time, group members were uncooperative with the investigation and gave conflicting testimony, which made it challenging to prosecute the case, according to McFarland.

Several members have since parted ways with the group and recently revised their statements to Colton police, saying that their original testimony was made under duress from the group’s leaders, McFarland said.

There have also been new revelations in the investigation into the disappearance of longtime member Emilio Ghanem, who was reported missing in Redlands in May 2023.

Earlier this year, Redlands police found the truck Ghanem was last seen driving and other unspecified evidence.

Ghanem’s disappearance is being investigated as a possible homicide, Baker said. The group, its leaders and its members are being scrutinized as part of the investigation, according to the department.

Also this summer, Claremont police announced that another missing man, Ruben Moreno, had been affiliated with the group. Moreno was reported missing in 2019. The department would not comment on its investigation.

Law enforcement began to look at the group in 2010, when Colton police began investigating Timothy’s death. Then-Det. Jack Morenberg expressed concern over allegations of child abuse and said the home had the appearance of a possible “‘cult-like’ ministry,” according to the coroner’s investigative report.

In 2010, Darryl Martin told police that Timothy’s parents had given him and his wife temporary custody of their three children because their mother had problems and couldn’t provide a stable home, according to the report. One of Timothy’s aunts told police that the Martins would not allow the boy’s mother to see him, or her other children, according to the report.

A second aunt felt that Darryl Muzic Martin was responsible for Timothy’s death and reported this to Colton police and child protective services in an effort to get the boy’s two remaining siblings removed from the house, according to the report. That aunt said that Martin had instructed the boy not to vomit and “showed him how to place his hand over his mouth to stop the vomit from coming out,” the report states.

Colton police plan to resubmit the death investigation to prosecutors based on new evidence, McFarland said.

Because of the statute of limitations, he said, the only charge available to pursue is child homicide or murder.

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It was a warm summer night in Hemet on Aug. 6 when neighbors were jolted awake by the sound of exploding flash-bang grenades and whirring helicopter blades.

“We will not be leaving. Come out with your hands up,” a stern voice says into a speaker in a video of the raid captured by a resident.

Redlands police, with help from the FBI, swarmed the current Hemet base of the His Way Spirit Led Assemblies as part of the investigation into the disappearance of Ghanem — who was last seen in Redlands on May 25, 2023.

But no one exited the home.

The standoff went on for several hours, until authorities used a military-style vehicle to force their way inside, neighbors said. Four residents were briefly detained, and two were booked on unrelated weapons charges, police said.

Several illegal firearms, including converted fully automatic rifles, short-barreled rifles and unserialized ghost guns, were recovered.

The Hemet compound is surrounded by tall wooden fences reinforced with chain link and guarded by five dogs that bark loudly at anyone who approaches.

Residents did not respond when approached by The Times in September. One yelled, “Go away,” from behind the fence.

Police conducted a similar raid on Aug. 12 at a remote compound in the Riverside County town of Anza connected to the group, where they briefly detained eight people and recovered electronic devices and other digital evidence, according to Baker.

Officers also detained Darryl and Kathryn Martin at a motel in Laguna Hills in August. Darryl was booked at West Valley Detention Center in Rancho Cucamonga on suspicion of weapons-related offenses, but prosecutors have not yet filed charges against him, Baker said. Kathryn was never booked as she suffered a medical emergency while being detained, Baker said.

No charges have been filed against any group members in connection to Ghanem’s disappearance, leaving his relatives searching for answers.

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Ghanem joined His Way Spirit Led Assemblies around 2000 and helped launch a pest control business run by the group called Fullshield Inc., his sister Jennifer Ghanem said.

For many years, he lived in one of the group’s Colton homes and was even interviewed in the original investigation into the 4-year-old boy’s death, McFarland said.

A male neighbor recalled often seeing Ghanem wearing an exterminator uniform and driving a Fullshield truck. He declined to be named, saying he feared retribution from the group.

“He seemed like a person could count on him,” the neighbor said. “He seemed like he’d be a good employee.”

The neighbor said that members kept to themselves, but they made him uneasy. He and a female neighbor, who also declined to be named, said members would often blast music late at night and appear to engage in some sort of prayer or ritual.

McFarland described the 1521 Latham St. home in Colton as “weird,” noting that all of the rooms were numbered and that one was specifically designated for religious activities.

After more than two decades of living and working with the group, Ghanem decided to part ways in April 2023, Jennifer Ghanem said. He started his own pest control company and moved back to Nashville to be closer to family, she said.

In May 2023, she said, he visited the Inland Empire to try to reconnect with former clients.

On May 8, 2023, he was served a cease-and-desist letter by an attorney representing Fullshield that accused him of stealing clients from the company.

Seventeen days later, he vanished.

This summer, Redlands police asked the Claremont Police Department to release a missing-person bulletin for Ruben Moreno in hopes of sparking new leads, according to Claremont city spokesperson Bevin Handel.

Moreno was reported missing in 2019 but hasn’t been seen since 2017, when he was living in a home affiliated with the organization in the 3900 block of Swarthmore Court, according to Claremont police. No search warrants have been served in the investigation into Moreno’s disappearance, and police would not comment on the status of the investigation.

Moreno’s brother Rudy was one of the two people booked on weapons-related charges when authorities raided the group’s Hemet compound in August, Baker said.

Neighbors in Colton also remember seeing Moreno around the group’s homes during the 2010s.

One Colton neighbor said he was upset, but not entirely surprised, to hear that two members had gone missing. He said that members had a “weird energy” and that he was particularly disturbed by their habit of jackhammering concrete late at night.

“I didn’t feel comfortable with them,” he said.

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