By Julia Glick The Associated Press

McKINNEY, Texas – The church pastor of a woman accused of cutting off the arms of her 10-month-old daughter told jurors yesterday that mental illness is actually demon possession and cannot be cured with medication.

Dena Schlosser, 37, has pleaded not guilty by reason of insanity in the November 2004 death of her baby, Margaret. She was not taking her anti-psychotic medication at the time of the slaying.

“I do not believe that any mental illness exists other than demons, and no medication can straighten it out, other than the power of God,” said Doyle Davidson, the 73-year-old minister of the Water of Life Church, which the Schlosser family attended several times a week.

Dena Schlosser’s attorneys have faulted her husband and the church’s beliefs for discouraging medical treatment.