How dead Miss Alabama Zoe Sozo Bethel was tortured over her ‘secret’ past

By Dana Kennedy March 3, 2022 5:26pm 

Miss Alabama Zoe Sozo Bethel’s official cause of death revealed

Tragic Miss Alabama Zoe Bethel hid her upbringing as a child of fire-and-brimstone parents who had her preach hate around the South, her sister Kezia (inset, left) told The Post. NY Post photo composite

To the public, Zoe Sozo Bethel was a beautiful Miss Alabama, a model and budding conservative commentator who mysteriously “fell” off a third-story balcony in Miami just before midnight Feb. 10 and died of her injuries a week later.

Those who know her say her death was especially tragic because Bethel, 27, was overcoming a tortured past in a troubled family that she tried to keep secret. She was the daughter of two fire-and-brimstone preachers, Orlando and Glynis, who called themselves “The Apostle” and “The Prophetess.” They took their kids all over the South, having them participate in inflammatory homophobic rhetoric and wear T-shirts reading “God Hates Gays” or “God Hates Whores,” sources said.

“Zoe tried to remake herself so no one would know she was the kid from Baldwin County (Alabama) who yelled ‘God hates you’ to people,” her sister Kezia Bethel, 26, told The Post. “She was able to keep it a secret on a national level. No one knew who she really was unless she came back to Baldwin County.”

Bethel died after “falling out” of a Miami hotel in February. At least one of her brothers was with her at the time. instagram/@zosobe

Her friends and family said they want more answers about her death, which Miami police first called an “attempted suicide” and then ruled was an accident. Bethel, 27, was with at least one of her brothers at the time.

Kezia, her ex-husband, and her best friend told The Post this week that the beauty queen was definitely not suicidal and they feel Miami police have not thoroughly investigated her death, which they think was suspicious. A Miami police spokesman told The Post Wednesday that the case had been closed.

“Zoe tried to remake herself so no one would know she was the kid from Baldwin County who yelled ‘God hates you’ to people. She was able to keep it a secret on a national level.”
Kezia Bethel to The Post about her sister’s tragic upbringing

Zoe’s father, Orlando Bethel, now 54, and his late wife, Glynis Bethel, who died of cancer in 2013, were both former small-time models and actors who met in Miami and later moved to Glynis’ native Loxley, Ala., after Zoe and her younger sister, Kezia, now 25, and brother Zion, 23, were born. Glynis also had two older sons, including Santiago, from her first marriage.

Kezia said her childhood was a nightmare. She said her mother, who can be seen preaching and “rebuking” others in YouTube videos, had a history of mental illness, often kept her kids at home and lectured them about the Bible and their “laziness,” sometimes up to 18 hours a day.

Zoe’s sister Kezia told The Post their upbringing “was a nightmare” and their mother had a history of mental illness. Photo: Brittany Latham/Johnson Production, Makeup: Meagan McNair @_makeupbymea_/Instagram

Because their parents were arrested for disorderly conduct and other charges stemming from their public preaching, Kezia said the children were in and out of foster homes.

“I went to sleep every night crying,” Kezia told The Post. “I just wanted my family to be normal. Nothing made any sense. Zoe would fight back the most and they kicked her out of the house several times. We were scared.”

Sometimes their parents would take off with the kids for months at a time to places like Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio where they would preach, often aggressively, according to both Kezia and a number of media reports from the time. Kezia said they were inspired after watching Westboro Baptist Church videos. Westboro Church has been described as a “hyper-Calvinist hate group” and has protested against gay people since 1989.

Zoe escaped her turbulent life through pageantry, her sister Kezia told The Post. instagram/@zosobe

In 2010, Zoe and Kezia were pictured in a local news report at a protest by the Westboro Church in New Orleans. Zoe, looking downcast, wore a T-shirt reading “God hates you sinners” and her brother wore a T-shirt saying “God hates whores.”

Even though the Bethels owned their home in Loxley, they sometimes went to other towns outside Alabama and tried to enroll their kids in local schools, saying they were homeless, according to both local media reports and lawsuits filed by the Bethels. At the same time, they had their kids walk into the schools, wearing T-shirts with inflammatory slogans and passing out religious material, according to Kezia and media reports.

“Her mom was off her rocker,” Sarah Cain, who said she was Zoe’s best friend since the age of 13, told The Post. “Zoe told me she never got that kind of motherly love. My mom did not let me go over there. She was not a fan of Zoe’s parents. Zoe’s parents would go around calling out girls as whores if they were wearing shorts. And this could be in Alabama in the summer when it was hot.”

Zoe (left) and Kezia briefly spent time with Westboro Church members at their Topeka, Kansas, base until their parents were thrown out, said Kezia, adding, “my parents were too extreme even for them.” Sabree Hill/UptownMessenger.com

Zoe poses with her best friend Sarah Cain (right), who said Zoe’s strict mother “was off her rocker.”
Courtesy of Sarah Cain

The Southern Poverty Law Center singled out Glynis Bethel in 2011 for being part of a hate group in a report titled, “Gay-bashing Prophetess Can’t Stay Out of Jail.” Oddly, Glynis also took her daughters to Atlanta when they were in their early teens to get them signed with modeling agencies. Kezia said she and Zoe both modeled off and on as teenagers.

Kezia said the Bethels briefly spent time with Westboro Church members at their Topeka, Kansas, base but that Westboro threw them out. “My parents were too extreme even for them,” Kezia said.

The Bethels have filed more than 50 federal lawsuits — mostly in the South — against school districts, police agencies, villages and cities, alleging their constitutional and civil rights were violated. In 2003, Orlando was arrested in Escambia County, Fla., for protesting without a permit while demonstrating in front of churches with posters inscribed, “Worship God, not your Pastor.”

He pleaded not guilty and challenged the law in federal court, where he was represented by the uber-conservative and anti-gay Liberty Counsel and supported by the American Civil Liberties Union. Ultimately, the county agreed to amend the permit ordinance, according to the SPLC.

Orlando Bethel (left) is pictured with his daughter, Kezia (middle), and son Zion at a protest promoting hate. Advocate.com

Glynis Bethel, who liked to call herself “The Prophetess,” died of cancer in 2013. Mobile County Sheriff's Office

Orlando Bethel denied that his children had a difficult childhood, although he admits they spent time in foster homes. splcenter.org

In 2011, police came to Brentwood High School in Tennessee when Glynis tried to enroll Zoe and Kezia and also have them distribute religious material in the classrooms, according to a local news outlet.

Zoe’s father, during a phone interview with The Post Wednesday, denied accusations that his children were abused in any way or had a difficult childhood. He admitted the kids had been placed in foster homes one or two times but it was just when he and his wife were “falsely arrested,” he said.

He said the family never directly interacted with Westboro Church members, although he acknowledged some of them came to Florida to support his legal tussle with Escambia County. He also said his late wife was not mentally ill.

“My children were never abused,” Orlando Bethel, who has since remarried, told The Post. “They never had any abuse physically, mentally or emotionally. They were loved and cherished and still are. They were raised under fundamental Christian beliefs.

“Zoe was a treasure, a gem, as all of her siblings,” he added. “Zoe was at the precipice of being able to show the world all she had to offer.”

Bethel, who left home at 16, forged a successful career as a model while also pursuing conservative politics, including trips to the Trump White House, an affiliation with Turning Point USA and participation in a Young Black Leaders Summit. In 2018, she was fired by the Ursula Wiedemann modeling agency in Atlanta after they got wind of her right-wing beliefs.

Zoe, who was a Trump supporter and a conservative, was fired from her modeling agency for her right-leaning beliefs. Instagram

The Bethel family drove around the South in this van as traveling evangelists. splcenter.org

“Hey Zoe,” Wiedemann wrote in an email to her. “The team has been talking about your political racist connections and we have decided to release you from your contract. We are an agency based on love, acceptance and inclusiveness and your current public persona is not relative to our brand. Best of luck to you!”

But Bethel kept going, winning the Miss Alabama for America title in 2021 and working toward a career in show business and broadcast journalism, friends told The Post. She had separated from her husband, Brennan Franklin, who looked after their 5-year-old daughter at their home in Alabama. Bethel was in Miami to network at the time of her death.

Zoe’s half-brother Santiago said he and his sister had dinner out the night she died, according to the police report. He said she had taken some type of drug to “relax.” When they got home, he said, she took a shower, dressed and went out to the hallway, where she began pacing erratically while on the phone with her younger brother, Zion. She then ran down the hallway and jumped off the balcony, the report stated.

Bethel won the Miss Alabama for America title in 2021 and was working toward a career in show business and broadcast journalism. instagram/@zosobe

At the time of her death, Bethel was separated from her husband, who is raising their 5-year-old daughter (above) in Alabama. Josiah Richwine

But Kezia said Santiago and Zion told her and others different — and conflicting — stories about Zoe’s death.

Kezia told The Post she does not know what happened and does not believe Zoe’s death was deliberate but may stem from turmoil within the family.

“I think there was some kind of dispute between them (Zoe and her brothers) but the police did not really look into it or talk to possible witnesses,” Kezia said. “We all have a hidden type of anger in us. It comes from a deep spot because of how we were raised. We didn’t have love. When that anger comes out, you cannot tell us anything. We are extreme. There’s nothing that can pull us back from it. No one around can say ‘Calm down.’ We are truly Glynis’ children.”

When reached by The Post, Santiago praised his sister.

“She was at the pinnacle of her potential,” Zoe’s half-brother Santiago told The Post of his sibling. He has launched a GoFundMe to help with the family’s costs. instagram/@zosobe

Speaking about her sister’s death, Kezia said, “we all have a hidden type of anger in us. It comes from a deep spot because of how we were raised.” Photo: Brittany Latham/Johnson Production, Makeup: Meagan McNair @_makeupbymea_/Instagram

“She loved her life, she loved her daughter, she was at the pinnacle of her potential,” he said. He has also launched a GoFundMe, asking for $500,000 in donations to cover Zoe’s hospital expenses and to help support her daughter.

But Santiago hung up when asked about the circumstances surrounding Zoe’s death. Zion Bethel could not be reached.

Orlando, who still lives in Alabama, said he will be holding a press conference when the family has a memorial service for Zoe. He said no date has yet been set and Zoe’s body remains in Miami.

Kezia said she is afraid of her father and only went public because she wants people to know the truth about her sister’s death and for people to know who Zoe truly was.

“She wanted to make something of herself,” Kezia said. “We didn’t have the kind of parents who said, ‘What do you want to be when you grow up?’ We had to figure it out on our own. I wanted to bury everything that happened and to forget it but because of what happened to Zoe, I can’t.”

https://nypost.com/2022/03/03/how-dead-miss-alabama-zoe-sozo-bethel-was-tortured-over-her-secret-past/