Florida: Vegan mom ‘starved son to death with vegetables, fruits diet’
A vegan mother has been found guilty of starving her 18-month-previous son to demise by feeding him raw vegetables and fruits.
Sheila O’Leary, 39, was convicted of murder by a jury on Wednesday in relation to baby abuse fees she confronted in the dying of her toddler Ezra O’Leary in September 2019, in accordance to the Fort Myers Information Push.
Ezra weighed only 17 kilos, which is seven pounds a lot less than average for his age, when his moms and dads located he experienced stopped respiratory.
‘This child did not try to eat. He was starved to demise over 18 months,’ reported Francine Donnorummo, special victims device chief at the State Attorney’s Place of work.
Sheila and her husband, Ryan O’Leary, explained to cops that Ezra had a rigid vegan diet program but was also breast fed. Ezra did not try to eat for about a week right before dying and was possessing issue sleeping, they said.
‘She made alternatives that killed her kid,’ Donnorummo stated.
‘Her pride charge Ezra his existence. It is a reckless disregard for human lifetime.’
An autopsy report located that Ezra died of problems linked to malnutrition.
Prosecutors accused Sheila of failing to seek health-related care for Ezra when she understood he was ill.
‘She chose to disregard his cries,’ reported Assistant Condition Lawyer Sara Miller, who co-prosecuted the scenario, throughout closing arguments.
‘She did not will need a scale to see his bones. She did not need a scale to listen to his cry.’
When Ezra died, the O’Learys had been also neglecting their three other small children, who are under all 11 years previous, in accordance to prosecutors.
‘We’re below mainly because their children were starving so a great deal that the youngest starved to demise,’ mentioned Miller.
Sheila, of Cape Coral, has her sentencing hearing set for July 25.
Ryan, who is in Lee County Jail, is slated to stand demo on the exact same charges that Sheila faced.
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