Vegan mother gets severely malnourished son for life after death | Abroad

Little Ezra O’Leary died on September 27, 2019 from malnutrition and dehydration. His parents, 39-year-old Sheila O’Leary and her husband Ryan, believed in a vegan diet and only fed him raw fruits and vegetables. A week before his death, the boy stopped eating and sleeping badly, but the couple did not seek medical help. An autopsy revealed that Ezra died of complications from malnutrition. He weighed less than 8 kilos and had the build of a 7 month old baby.

The woman was convicted in June of six charges, including first-degree murder. But she was not told her final sentence until Monday. Her husband is also in prison awaiting trial. He is suspected of the same charges.

The mother’s lawyer insisted the child’s death was an accident, but prosecutor Sara Miller says the mother “chose to ignore Ezra’s suffering.” “She didn’t need scales to see his bones,” Miller said. “She didn’t need a scale to hear his cries.”

The Cape Coral couple had two other children, ages 3 and 5, who were also malnourished, researchers said. A fourth child had been returned to her biological father in a previous malnutrition case in Virginia, court records show.