Vegan couple sentenced to life over baby's death

[neiks 19]

Why wouldn't the just fed him the soy formula? Skip the apple juice at such a young age. Being Vegan shouldn't have anything to do with it - that's just plain old stupidity.

[sparkofcreation 0]

Why wouldn't the just fed him the soy formula? Skip the apple juice at such a young age. Being Vegan shouldn't have anything to do with it - that's just plain old stupidity.

Exactly what I've been thinking all along. I was born preemie and it was before they believed in letting mothers come breastfeed preemies (heck, my parents weren't allowed to touch me for two or three weeks) and like most babies I was lactose intolerant, so I drank nothing but soy formula until I was old enough to start eating real food. And obviously I didn't starve to death. Lots of babies do fine on soy formula.

And even *I* know babies can't drink juice!

[KarenCee 3]

why didnt they breasfed the baby?

is breast milk considered animal milk?

That's probably it.... so sad.

No, that's probably not it. A couple of my friends are vegan and breastfeeding would be okay because it's natural and clearly *meant* for human consumption. Maybe she couldn't breastfeed.

The couple just sounds so ignorant; a little baby wouldn't do well on cow's milk, either, so it's not just a vegan thing. Poor baby.

There are soy based formulas on the market that do not contain cow's milk. My daughter couldn't tolerate cow's milk after my breast milk gave out (yes it does happen) so we went to soy based formulas. There's no excuse.

[Oath 0]

why didnt they breasfed the baby?

is breast milk considered animal milk?

That's probably it.... so sad.

No, that's probably not it. A couple of my friends are vegan and breastfeeding would be okay because it's natural and clearly *meant* for human consumption. Maybe she couldn't breastfeed.

The couple just sounds so ignorant; a little baby wouldn't do well on cow's milk, either, so it's not just a vegan thing. Poor baby.

There are soy based formulas on the market that do not contain cow's milk. My daughter couldn't tolerate cow's milk after my breast milk gave out (yes it does happen) so we went to soy based formulas. There's no excuse.

I agree, despite my feelings on vegans, it has nothing to do with it, they ignored the child until it died, its that simple.

[Hilarious Clinton 452]

Maybe the vegan lifestyle caused the parents to lose their minds.

[Mr. Big Dog 10,747]

I hope they only serve meat and animal fats in prison. Maybe these morons would then starve too. This is so fcuking outrageous, I don't even know where to begin. I mean, there's a baby going hungry and losing probably half his birthweight over the course of 6 weeks. They didn't know? Give me a break. That's like the couple that didn't notice when their dog chewed off their babies toes...

[keltic 1]

just to give some perspective on just how severely this child was malnourished...

a full-term pregnancy is considered 37 - 42 weeks... around 32 weeks is when lungs are starting to make something called surfactant... technical terms to say that basically at 32 weeks a baby's lungs are just beginning to be able to function well enough to sustain life... usually needing some help with oxygen administration, but capable...

3 1/2 lbs is around the weight of a 32 week neonate

this 6 wk old baby would have basically been a skeleton with skin on it... and very cold... unable to maintain a body temperature in the normal range...

there are multiple options for soy formula... and if it was a matter of expense, WIC will supply soy formulas as well as milk based

there are so many resources for pregnancy out there... pamphlets, internet sites, books, classes, etc... there is just no excusable reason that this should have happened...

now i need to cuddle with my 7 1/2 wk little boy

[Hornet 2]

sad story and pathetic parents but how do they get or deserve LIFE in prison when that biitch in Tenn who shot her husband in the back!!! gets like 6 years and possibly out in 2????

10 women on the jury!! that's how. half wanted to let her off with nothing!! #######?

That's why I don't trust the so-called justice system anymore in this country. and the politicians make it worse by piling on more and more laws....

[Amby 490]

wow this story is quite sad. poor kid didn't even have a chance it seems.

[Heracles 417]

ATLANTA - A vegan couple were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for the death of their malnourished 6-week-old baby boy, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.

Vegans

They should have been jailed on the grounds of being stupid by choice..

[Heracles 417]

Biologically speaking, we were meant to be omnivores. If someone chooses to eliminate animal products from his or hers diet it is very hard to get good nutrition. It is different when it comes to a newborn. If it isn't fed mothers milk (do they consider that to be against their vegen lifestyle?) then they should be especially careful when it comes to the babies diet. This was either gross stupidity or deliberate mistreatment. No one can look at a 3 1/2 lb, 6 week old baby and not see something was wrong. Either way they do not deserve to be parents.

t

If anything we are also carnivores..

[Oath 0]

ATLANTA - A vegan couple were sentenced Wednesday to life in prison for the death of their malnourished 6-week-old baby boy, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.

Vegans

They should have been jailed on the grounds of being stupid by choice..

[Marilyn. 340]

see, if i opened a prison i would have one meal, everyone gets the same thing, or don't eat. period. why should they get special treatment ? murderers, rapists, etc? their victims have NO choices!

I worked in a maximum security prison, and a lot of the guys were murderers and rapists etc...

I understand for health reasons that someone might need a special diet while in prison but not for personal reasons....

i did not know that sister marilyn. i have worked in 3 prisons and there is always a non pork dish..for the jewish/muslim prisoners....for the vegans, they would be shitty out of luck, since it is not affiliated with a dept of correction sanctioned religion....

this was in Canada, so maybe things work differently up there .....

[Arazia 0]

Do I think they deserved life in prison: No.

From what I read, they changed their story a couple of times during the course of the investigation. At the original interview, the wife had said she fed the baby soy milk and apple juice (note: apple juice is a diaretic and probably was part of the problem). Later, she changed her story and said she fed the baby soymilk formula. They had refused to take the child to the hospital because they thought it was 'full of germs'.

Seriously, though, unless the baby was born seriously underweight, at which point it should have been taken to a doctor, there is no way that the parents could not have known that this kid was sick. There is a more detailed article that describes this child as being so emaciated that the doctors could see/feel individual ribs. I think that, more than anything else, is part of the reason that it wasn't just seen as intentional instead of just as ignorance.

Edited May 11, 2007 by Arazia