Key Takeaways
- Latoya Ammons and her family experienced a series of disturbing paranormal events after moving into a house in Gary.
- The family’s harrowing experiences inspired the 2024 film “The Deliverance,” directed by Lee Daniels, now streaming on Netflix.
- The family encountered disturbing events such as black flies infesting their porch, footsteps in the basement, and shadowy figures in the house.
The family of Latoya Ammons, a single mother of three, now resides in Indianapolis with her mom, Rosa Campbell, after their 2012 move from Gary, Indiana. The 2024 film “The Deliverance” recounts their harrowing experiences.
Rosa Campbell, grandmother to Latoya’s three children, was once a caretaker in the 1980s, working in Gary, Indiana, during her 30s. She is also the mother of three.
In 2011, she found herself at the center of a paranormal nightmare when her daughter Latoya moved into a house on Carolina Street.
The family experienced a succession of disturbing events, including violent disturbances and alleged demonic activity.
Despite these frightening experiences, Rosa remained steadfast throughout the ordeal, supporting her family until the situation was eventually resolved.
As an African American, Rosa now resides peacefully in Indianapolis, though the release of “The Deliverance” has ignited discussions about the portrayal of race.
One X user wrote:
I wanted to like this movie. But after learning about the real story of Latoya Ammons, I feel deeply disappointed and disgusted by the director. Latoya and her mother are both black women, but yet you chose a mixed and a white woman to play her and her mom.
While the another wrote:
So I did a deep dive into Latoya Ammons, the woman who inspired The Deliverance, and he mom is like BLACK???? So what was the reason for adding Glenn Close? Not saying she didn’t do a good job but….what was the reason???
While Lee Daniels, the director of the film, stated:
What I’ve changed a little bit is I made her mother white because I have so many mixed-race friends and [I wanted to talk about] what it’s like to have a white mother and live in a Black girl’s body. And the deliverance person was actually a guy and not a girl.
He added:
But there are so many women that do this work too, that don’t get recognised, so I changed that a little bit, and of course their names and such. I really wanted to separate as much as I could so I could make it my own story.
Glenn Close played her role in the film The Deliverance, while Ebony Jackson portrayed Latoya.
Latoya Ammons’ Terrifying True Story Inspires New Horror Film
“The Deliverance,” a recent supernatural horror thriller now streaming on Netflix, is inspired by the terrifying real-life experiences of Latoya Ammons. Directed by Lee Daniels, the movie was released on August 16, 2024.
It was in November 2011 that Latoya Ammons moved into a new home in Gary, Indiana, with her mother, Rose Campbell, and her three children: 7-year-old Armani Ammons, 9-year-old Airion Smith, and 12-year-old Andrew R. Ammons.
Not long after, the family began experiencing unusual events, such as hearing footsteps in the basement, doors creaking, spotting shadowy figures in the house, and discovering bootprints on the kitchen floor.
The family claimed that black flies swarmed the porch and persisted in returning despite their efforts to eliminate them. Campbell said:
We killed them and killed them and killed them, but they kept coming back.
Ammons further described seeing her children levitate above their beds, being struck by flying objects, and speaking in strange voices.
By March 2012, the alleged supernatural incidents had escalated so much that Ammons and her mother sought help from local churches, but most refused to help them.
The family shared numerous other disturbing incidents, including the children being choked by an invisible force and the youngest child having conversations about death with a spirit in the closet.
Latoya visited her family physician, Dr Geoffery Onyeukwu, on April 19, 2012, regarding her children’s health, hoping to find a solution.
It was alleged that Ammons’ children cursed the doctor in demonic voices, and their increasingly hostile behavior led someone to contact the police.
Around this time, Valerie Washington, an agent from Indiana’s Department of Child Services (DCS), launched an investigation into potential child abuse and neglect following an anonymous complaint.
Ammons eventually sought help from a local priest, Reverend Michael Maginot. After thoroughly investigating the case, Maginot performed three exorcisms at his church in Merrillville in June 2012 and blessed the home to expel the evil spirits.
During their joint investigation, they discovered that the demons haunting the family had names, including Beelzebub and other demons that torture and hurt kids.
The Ammons family relocated to Indianapolis in May 2012, after which the paranormal events stopped.
In November 2012, Ammons regained custody of her three children, and the DCS continued monitoring them until the case closed over a year later.
Zak Bagans, a paranormal investigator, later acquired the house, famously called the “200 Demons House,” and demolished it in 2016, saving portions of the basement for his museum in Las Vegas.
The ending credits of the film “The Deliverance” give an update on the house featured in the story:
The house remained vacant until it was bulldozed in 2016. Strange occurrences are still reported around the property to this day.
The director stated that Latoya is “at peace” following the hauntings and described her as “lovely.”
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Andrew R. Smith Sr is the husband of Latoya Ammons.
- Latoya prefers to keep her life private and has only shared her tragic experiences.
- Armani Lasean Ammons, her youngest son, died at the young age of 17 on October 8, 2021.
