Joseph Ramirez, Father, Tried To Sacrifice Son In San Diego Cemetery, Police Say

Joseph Ramirez, a 30-year-old man from San Diego, Calif., has been accused of attempting to sacrifice his 8-year-old son Saturday afternoon at Mount Hope Cemetery, NBC San Diego reports.

Police told the station Ramirez claimed the spirit of his deceased grandmother instructed him to sacrifice the child.

Fortunately, the boy's mother was able to flag down two women walking into the cemetery to help.

The women, Corey Granberry and her friend, Jaymisha Pires, tried to separate the children from Ramirez, who was using glass to slash open his son's arm.

"All I see is a man wrapped up with three kids and blood," Granberry told KGTV.

"He was like, 'Daddy, no… Don't hurt me, ow,' because his arms were hurting," Pires told KGTV.

Pires told the San Diego Union-Tribune that Ramirez kept repeating "we're going to Jesus, we're going to Jesus" before he cast the children aside and ran.

After a cemetery security guard tackled the father, he was taken to the hospital where authorities told the paper he will soon be booked on charges of child abuse and assault with a deadly weapon.

The 8-year-old was taken to Rady’s Children’s Hospital and treated for his injuries. According to the San Diego Union-Tribune police officer David Stafford said he was unsure of the child's condition.