Vegan, Vegetarian? Bottom Line The Child Starved To Death

[Kathianne]

They got life sentences. Uggg:

http://www.nbcnews.com/id/18574603/n.../#.UZ_YRpVU2-J

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.


Superior Court Judge L.A. McConnell imposed the mandatory sentences on Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31. Their son, Crown Shakur, weighed just 3 1/2 pounds when he died of starvation on April 25, 2004.


The couple were found guilty May 2 of malice murder, felony murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. A jury deliberated about seven hours before returning the guilty verdicts.


Defense lawyers said the first-time parents did the best they could while adhering to the lifestyle of vegans, who typically use no animal products. They said Sanders and Thomas did not realize the baby, who was born at home, was in danger until minutes before he died.


But prosecutors said the couple intentionally neglected their child and refused to take him to the doctor even as the baby’s body wasted away.

“No matter how many times they want to say, ‘We’re vegans, we’re vegetarians,’ that’s not the issue in this case,” said prosecutor Chuck Boring. “The child died because he was not fed. Period.”


Although the life sentences were automatic, Sanders and Thomas begged for leniency before sentencing. Sanders urged the judge to look past his “perception” of the couple.


...

[Noir]

Morons. There's no excuse for a) being ignorant of vegan infant nutrition, and b) not going to a doctors.

[Trigg]

simply nursing the child with the milk nature intended would have saved the child's life.

[Kathianne]

simply nursing the child with the milk nature intended would have saved the child's life.

animal product

[Noir]

animal product

Breast milk is not an 'animal product'.

[tailfins]

Breast milk is not an 'animal product'.

Then what is it: Animal, vegetable or mineral?

[Trigg]

animal product

even though it comes from the mother?? I thought the whole point of vegan or vegetarianism was that they didn't want to harm animals in order to feed themselves. Mother milk wouldn't qualify then would it?

Up to the age of four to six months, the diets of many infants of vegan and of non-vegan parents are identical. The perfect food for the young infant is breast milk and supplementary foods should not be introduced until after four to six months of age. Breast-fed infants of well nourished vegan women tend to grow and develop normally(11). The infant receives many benefits from breast feeding, including some immune system enhancement, protection against infection, and reduced risk of allergies(12). Moreover, as human breast milk is the natural food for baby humans it also probably contains substances needed by growing infants which are not even known to be essential and are not included in infant formulas. Meanwhile, nursing mothers derive benefits such as reduced risk of premenopausal breast cancer, release of stress-relieving hormones and, for some, sheer convenience (12). For all these reasons, we strongly encourage breast feeding.

[Kathianne]

Breast milk is not an 'animal product'.

Unless you believe humans aren't animals, it is. This couple believed no different than cows, goats, etc.

[BillyBob]

So vegans are 'spitters'? I've always wondered about that. [I never dated a vegan]

[Noir]

Unless you believe humans aren't animals, it is. This couple believed no different than cows, goats, etc.

Then this couple were evening bigger morons than i previously thought.

Almost all vegans breast feed, with the explict understanding that a) this is the most natural form of nutrition, and b) what goes into your body goes into your babies.

Living as a vegan is to live (in as much as possible) without hurting other animals, breast feeding harms no animal. If the mother explicitly does not want to breastfeed, then she will have to go to great care to ensure her babe is nourished, which apparently this family didn't do.

[DragonStryk72]

Then what is it: Animal, vegetable or mineral?

He means that it is the milk we are supposed to have as babies.

Seriously, they couldn't have gotten any of the little gerber bits they sell these days that are vegan? The little puff treats, or just gotten formula, anything? I mean, there are options here, and they should have realized when the kid kept losing weight.

Now, that said, I don't think it was malicious or felony murder. That was a vengeance run by the prosecutor, and not that they don't deserve to go away for a good long while, but murder is a deliberate act, requiring motive, intent, and opportunity. They had no motive to kill their baby, and nor did they have the intent to kill their baby.

They were trying, however idiotically, to care for their child. They weren't trying to harm him, or kill him, so no, murder shouldn't have been a charge. I can easily see the cruelty and manslaughter charges, but murder? No, there was no motive or intent, it's just not murder. I would have slapped them with reckless endangerment of a minor, as well.

[BillyBob]

Now, that said, I don't think it was malicious or felony murder. That was a vengeance run by the prosecutor, and not that they don't deserve to go away for a good long while, but murder is a deliberate act, requiring motive, intent, and opportunity. They had no motive to kill their baby, and nor did they have the intent to kill their baby.

They were trying, however idiotically, to care for their child. They weren't trying to harm him, or kill him, so no, murder shouldn't have been a charge. I can easily see the cruelty and manslaughter charges, but murder? No, there was no motive or intent, it's just not murder. I would have slapped them with reckless endangerment of a minor, as well.

If they would have killed the kid a few months earlier, nobody would have cared.

[jimnyc]

These types of people just leave me shaking my head. Placing ones beliefs above their child shouldn't entail health and/or things that could harm the children. I just read about another case earlier this week, a couple who have MULTIPLE times been in trouble for not getting health care for their child because they prefer faith healing.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/nation...df7_story.html

[DragonStryk72]

If they would have killed the kid a few months earlier, nobody would have cared.

um, no, sorry, but people would still care.

[BillyBob]

um, no, sorry, but people would still care.

The justice system wouldn't have.