Misty Horner

Misty Horner died on January 9, 2007, at her home in Lee’s Summit, Missouri. A former police dispatcher, she was, according to her friend, Tina Moore, caught up in a cult-like religion that contributed to her death and the stillbirth of her child. On December 1, 2006, after a week of labor, she gave birth at her home.

Misty’s husband, Caleb Horner, a Lee’s Summit police officer, belonged to a cult started by his brother that did not believe in medical intervention, so there was no midwife, nurse, or doctor attending her labor or birth.

Moore, who said that she was present at the birth, reported that the baby came out breech and that her head had not yet been born. Caleb, who had had no medical training, took scissors and cut an episiotomy. Describing the situation as “horrific,” she said that her friend became ill suffering from septic shock.

Even though Horner’s colleagues and a medical examiner urged him to give her antibiotics, he told them that she had refused. Misty Horner’s mother contends that her daughter was brainwashed by her husband. Horner's parents expressed shock with the way that the "cause of death" box was filled out on Misty's death certificate as due to "natural causes."

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