Rachael Hilyard decapitation Wichita Kansas
Rachael Hilyard said an exorcism took place in a house where she is accused of decapitating a grandmother Sedgwick County Sheriff’s Office

A 35-year-old woman charged with chopping off a woman's head as the victim's nine-year-old grandson ran away in terror claims there were evil spirits in the house where the attack took place.

Rachael Hilyard is accused of killing 63-year-old Micki Davis, the mother of her ex-boyfriend, at a house in Wichita, Kansas and leaving the victim's head in the kitchen sink.

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It is alleged that Hilyard went to the victim's home with the nine-year-old boy on 9 April to collect some of her ex's belongings. Police claim that at some point she attacked Davis with a knife in the garage, removing her head and placing it in the sink.

The boy ran from the property, grabbed a phone from his gran's truck and called 911. He then took police back to the scene, where they found the dead woman and then found Hilyard hiding in the house.

Hilyard, who faces murder charges, said in an interview with the Wichita Eagle she felt "horrible" about what happened but that it was God who took Davis's life. Hilyard said she had participated in an exorcism at Davis's property a few days before the incident to rid it of "evil spirits".

A pastor who participated in the "exorcism" admitted attending the property but said Hilyard had seemed harmless.

"She was not aggressive to hurt anyone or herself," the pastor, Terry Fox, told the Wichita Eagle. "Had she been. I would've reported it. If I thought she was a danger to herself or someone I would've reported that."

In the weeks leading up to the incident Hilyard posted a series of unusual messages on Facebook in which she made reference to beheadings and being insane. She is charged with first degree murder along with separate charges of trespassing, assault and obstruction. She remains in prison on a $226,000 bond.