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I didn't see this posted before, if it was, sorry. This is a really sad story:
By BETH WARREN
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Published on: 05/03/07
A vegan couple committed murder when they didn't make sure their
newborn received proper nutrition, a Fulton jury decided Wednesday.
The courtroom was so quiet after the judge read the verdict — the
first of its kind in Georgia — that the clank of the handcuffs
being fastened around the parents' wrists echoed through the room.
The father, Lamont Thomas, 31, then called out "We're going to jail
for no reason" as his girlfriend, Jade Sanders, 27, stared ahead,
visibly stunned.
Thomas told visiting Senior Superior Court Judge L.A. McConnell that
he and Sanders were proud of their first child, naming him Crown. "We
didn't starve our son for weeks and weeks," the dad said before
deputies led him out of the courtroom.
The verdicts mean the couple will receive automatic life sentences.
The judge might tack on more prison time at a sentencing hearing next
week.
After hearing the verdicts, Sanders' and Thomas' mothers sat
silently, wiping at tears. They remembered a grandson who smiled and
laughed and didn't cry any more than any other child, said Thomas'
attorney, Brandon Lewis.
Lewis turned to the defendants' moms and vowed to appeal: "I want you
to remember, it's far from being over."
The infant was born in the bathtub of a Buckhead apartment but never
taken to a doctor while alive. He was dead when his parents took him
to Piedmont Hospital, across the street from their apartment, April
25, 2004. At six weeks old he weighed just 3 1/2 pounds and was so
emaciated, doctors could count his bones through his skin.
Fulton prosecutor Chuck Boring said the verdict isn't a condemnation
of veganism, a strict form of vegetarianism that doesn't allow the
consumption or use of animal products. Instead, jurors believed
prosecutors' assertions that the couple intentionally neglected and
underfed the child and then tried to use the lifestyle as a shield.
In similar cases, a New York jury convicted a vegan couple on murder
charges in the death of their child, but a Florida jury was more
lenient, acquitting vegan parents of murder and instead convicting
them on reduced charges of involuntary manslaughter, an unintentional
death. In that case, the couple had successfully raised two children
as vegans, but their third child died.
"The vegan diet is fine," Boring said after the verdict in the
Georgia case. "These parents lied about what they fed him. He just
was not fed enough."
The mother initially told police she fed her baby organic apple juice
and soy milk. But the soy milk containers in her apartment clearly
state that soy milk is not to be used as a substitute for baby
formula, her lawyer admitted. At trial, the mom said she also fed her
son breast milk and soy milk formula.
Outside the courtroom, Lewis, the defense attorney, said he believes
the parents unintentionally starved their child by feeding him apple
juice that may have acted as a diuretic and blocked the absorption of
nutrients from the soy milk, soy formula and breast milk. They never
took Crown to a doctor because they feared hospitals were infested
with germs, he said.
At trial, government witness and vegan expert Amy Lanou told jurors
the child's health may have been compromised by his diet, but he
should still have been alive if fed enough food.
Lanou, a nutritionist who authored the book "Healthy Eating for Life
for Children," on raising children as vegans, said all parents should
know that babies need adequate amounts of breast milk or formula.
Prosecutors Boring and Mike Carlson convinced jurors that the neglect
was intentional.
Boring said outside the courtroom that he'd always be haunted by the
case. "I'll never understand 'Why?' " he said.
Do you also post these stories for parents who are not vegan who deprive their kids of nutrition, or are you anti-vegan and doing this for sensational purposes only?
Do you also post these stories for parents who are not vegan who deprive their kids of nutrition, or are you anti-vegan and doing this for sensational purposes only?
It is an interesting story - one that is not heard about too often
Do you also post these stories for parents who are not vegan who deprive their kids of nutrition, or are you anti-vegan and doing this for sensational purposes only?
Oh god your here, maybe you should make up some more stories for any argument you have here.
a baby is 3 1/2LBS at 6 weeks, these two should have been found guilty Vegan or not you need to make sure you child is getting the proper amount of food it needs, which clearly it wasnt. Very sad, as this poor kid starved to death because these two were morons.
The parents were crazy. Maybe they should have tried breastfeeding? Maybe someone should have noticed they were not fit to have children? Any way it is a sad story.
The parents were crazy. Maybe they should have tried breastfeeding? Maybe someone should have noticed they were not fit to have children? Any way it is a sad story.
The article said she breastfed and gave the baby soy milk as well as soy formula and apple juice. She should have just breastfed exclusively or even used soy formula but apparently they weren't playing with a full deck here.
I just don't see why they (the media!?) have to put the vegan thing in the headlines. This couple was just as idiotic as a meat eater who believes that straight cow milk alone is "just as good" as formula or breast milk and gives it to their infant. I know people like that... my brother's ex-wife was like that! Thankfully she didn't do her stupid crap until my niece was older and getting some solid foods and when she did do it I reported her sorry azz to CPS. My niece was supposed to be on that crazy expensive formula (I can't remember what it's called) and WIC would have PAID FOR IT but my brother's ex was too lazy to get it via WIC so she switched my niece over to cow milk only.
Idiots. That's the problem here. Not a dietary choice like veganism.
Do you also post these stories for parents who are not vegan who deprive their kids of nutrition, or are you anti-vegan and doing this for sensational purposes only?
Good Lord woman, do you ever have a nice pleasant thing to say? You must be such a joy to be around. It's a human interest story. Sheesh!
I just don't see why they (the media!?) have to put the vegan thing in the headlines.
The "vegan thing" was part of the story because the couple used it as their defense. I'm guessing it's in the headline because it will generate more attention than if it wasn't there. At least that's how the MSM usually operates.
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