Police: former cult leader living in Georgia charged in Florida

MARIETTA, Ga. - She’s been living in Marietta for more than a decade, but is now headed back to Florida on a charge of murder for the death of a child.

Investigators describe Anna Elizabeth Young as a former cult leader who ran a religions boarding school near Gainesville, Florida.

Investigators told FOX 5 News, Young was known as Mother Anna while running a religious boarding school in Alachua County, Florida.

Her Marietta home has multiple signs of Jesus, but the Cobb County Sheriff’s Office said Young served prison time after being convicted in 2001 of child abuse for bathing a 12-year-old girl in a steel tub with chemicals severely burning the child.

Neighbor Powell Rivers saw of law enforcement at Young’s home late last week.

“There were like 12 undercover police cars here and we didn’t know what was going on. My neighbor said he heard somebody crying or something like that,” said Rivers.

The sheriff’s office said Young was arrested and taken to jail by some of their deputies, the U.S. Marshals Service and investigators from the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office after it was substantiated she had committed premeditated first degree murder of a child, apparently many years ago.

“I’ve been here 14 years and she’s been there longer than I have,” said Neighbor Zoey Lucinda.

Lucinda was stunned to learn of the arrest and pending extradition of Young from Cobb County to Florida on the murder charge. Lucinda said Young was constantly surrounded by others.

“I know she’s involved with the church as you can see with the Jesus rock and the Jesus sign and I know they have like church bazaars on weekend,” said Lucinda.

No answer at Young’s home, but neighbors told FOX 5 News children and an older man also live there.

Cobb County officials referred FOX 5 News to the Alachua County Sheriff’s Office who did not return calls.

According to the Gainesville Florida Sun newspaper, Young is thought to have killed a toddler and officials are searching for other victims.

“I got three children so if she did something like that for children they should have gotten her on the spot and it should have been literally a nationwide manhunt for her,” said Rivers.

The Cobb County Sheriff’s Office told FOX 5 News details of the pending extradition of Young back to Florida will not be released because of security concerns.