This week after being sent to jail for allegedly murdering his mother with a samurai sword, 'Ugly Betty' actor Michael Brea told the New York Daily News that he was "doing the work of God" when he repeatedly chopped at his mother's body. He says that he didn't kill his mom, but instead "killed the demon inside her."

"I was slashing my mom, and I heard the police knocking on the door yelling, 'Michael, open up, Michael, open up,' but I knew they wouldn't open the door and stop me because the spirits were protecting me. ... I just kept cutting her. No one could stop me. I was doing the work of God," he said.
Brea claims that voices inside his head were a sign of what he needed to do.

"I felt like Neo from 'The Matrix.' I began hearing voices and feeling powerful. ... They were asking about the difference between mom and mother. It was a sign."

There isn't much to say about the case. Brea is the son of Marcel and Yanick Brea and is of Haitian descent. He was born in New York city and says he got into acting to share the history of the United States and Haiti through film. He opened a Subway restaurant in Brooklyn because he says he wanted to give healthy food alternatives to urban communities. He also says that his mother taught him to do charity in the name of God.

The sadness of the Brea situation is that if he did commit this crime, it is likely due to mental illness. He's not the first person to murder someone after hearing voices that he thought came from God. Melissa Huckaby was a 28-year-old mother convicted of the murder and rape of 8-year-old Sandra Cantu. Cantu's body was found in a suitcase in a lake in California. When asked about Huckaby, her family described her as a kind and loving mother with a strong religious background. Huckaby, the former Sunday school teacher, said she could not understand why she killed Melissa.

Last year, Otty Sanchez was accused of eating her month-old son's brain and then cutting her own throat. She said that the devil told her to kill her baby. Her case, Huckaby's and quite a few others lead us to wonder what kind of punishment is appropriate when it seems clear that the defendant was not in his or her right mind.

Clearly, someone deemed to be a threat to society should be kept away from others. Brea's reference to the film 'The Matrix' combined with the fact that he is an actor, makes me wonder how film may play a role in how mentally ill people see the world. Brea's decision to "kill the demon inside his mother" reminds me of the recently released film 'Paranormal Activity,' in which a demon was inside a woman forcing her to kill her family members. I'm sure Brea's attorneys are already considering this connection, since it is quite plausible that a mentally ill actor would be unduly influenced by what he sees on the big screen.

One has to be concerned about the fact that one faulty switch in our brain circuitry can make be the difference between a life of freedom and spending the rest of your life in prison. Perhaps the appropriate phrase in this situation for all of us might be, "There but for the grace of God go I." Brea appeared to be a happy and productive citizen as of last week. Now he is a daunting threat to society.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition and a Scholarship in Action resident of the Institute for Black Public Policy. To have Dr. Boyce's commentary delivered to your e-mail, please click here.