Vegan parents guilty in infant murder

Atlanta Journal-Constitution ^ | 5/2/2007 | Beth Warren

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The parents of a baby that died of starvation after being fed a vegan diet have been found guilty of malice murder, felony murder and first degree cruelty to children.

Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31, will get an automatic life sentence for the death of their 6-week-old infant, Crown. After being fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice, he weighed only 3 1/2 pounds when he died.

The Fulton County jury deliberated the case for about seven hours.

Prosecutors said it was a chilling case of murder by starvation, a painful and prolonged death. Attorneys representing Sanders and Thomas told jurors the first-time parents did the best they could while adhering to their vegan lifestyle. Vegans typically live free of animal products.

"They're not vegans, they're baby killers," Fulton prosecutor Mike Carlson told the jury Tuesday during his closing arguments.

The couple's attorneys said they didn't realize their baby, born at home, was in danger until minutes before he died.

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The perps:

......
Jade Sanders.............................Lamont Thomas

An updated article:

Murder verdict for vegan parents

From the article:

Fulton prosecutor Chuck Boring said the precedent-setting verdict isn't a condemnation of veganism, a strict form of vegetarianism that does not 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.

The infant was born in the bathtub of a Buckhead apartment, but never taken to a doctor. The 6-week-old was dead when his parents took him to Piedmont Hospital, across the street from their apartment, on April 25, 2004. He weighed 3 1/2 pounds and was so emaciated that doctors could count his bones through his skin.

...

The Atlanta mother, Jade Sanders, 27, initially told police she fed her baby organic apple juice and soy milk. But the soy milk containers in her Buckhead apartment clearly state that soy milk is not to be used as a substitute for baby formula, her lawyer admitted.

[GoLightly]

Had one that liked corn on the cob.

Both of the kittyboys I have now like grass, of the lawn variety. Though they’re indoor kittys, they make a break for the front door when it’s opened, head straight for the grass & start chowing down on it. Sometimes they hang out by the door & meow until I go out & pick some grass for them. I planted some oat grass for them in the house (suckered in by the over priced kit in the pet department) & they both love it. Watching them wrestle with the little blades of grass when they first began to grow was hilarious.

[ASOC]

Yup

$5/day until seated, then $25/day and all you can eat lunch.

Not like you would volunteer for jusry duty - and I am up again in June, so no vacation with the wife....

[rogue yam]

My almond milk carton (I love the stuff)...

Hippie!

(just kidding...sorta)

[TheBattman]

I beg to differ. They chose to continue the "feedings" despite 6 weeks of the baby dying a slow death. It goes way beyond stupidity -

Best case would be that they were so stubborn that they were going to feed that child that garbage NO MATTER WHAT. Worst case - they were sadisticly starving the child to death.

[TheBattman]

It wasn’t soy-based formula, it was simply “soy milk” that is sold in the dairy isle... definitely not intended for newborn babies!

[rimtop56]

Maybe he needs to cuddle with her more when ya’ll sit for a while, like when you watch TV.

Ricki (my husband’s old cat) had been abandoned in a field near his old apartment and he rescued her. I think she realized that and loved him. The funny thing was that he and his daughters thought she was a he, and they named her Richard. One day when I went over (before we were married), he told me, “There’s something wrong with this cat! It’s acting crazy!” After a few minutes of observing the animal, I recognized the symptoms. “SHE’S in heat!” I laughed. So “Richard” became “Ricki,” a la Ricki Lake.

[barker]

[aruanan]

If they were already feeding the baby formula they just were deliberately not feeding him enough. This has nothing to do with veganism, just plain malicious child abuse resulting in death.

Some infants fail to thrive regardless of what is fed to them. That's the phrase used by the doctors, "failure to thrive". When the pediatrician sees this, he tries to discover the reason for the failure. Sometimes he cannot find a reason in the child's environment and tries various types of medical and nutritional intervention to get the kid over the hump. Apparently there was no such person to notice that a six-week-old weighed between 1/2 and 1/5 of what he should (assuming he wasn't a preemie to begin with). In this case it's entirely possible that there was no malicious intent at all (such as in the case of someone drowning her kids in the bathtub), just gross ignorance heavily leavened with sheer stupidity. Given the fact that they're vegans and, according to an earlier poster, didn't want to breastfeed because the kid would then be feeding in a non-vegan way, this is the more likely explanation.

[CholeraJoe]

According to an article I googled, 600-800 grams of onion in a single meal or as little as 150 grams over several days can be toxic to a 10kg dog. Two salient points - My dogs weigh 40 kilos each and the pieces of onion they have eaten are the size of a dime, perhaps 5 grams.

I doubt they're in much danger but I'll be a little more careful. Thanks for the heads-up.

[CholeraJoe]

Not that I’ve ever eaten it first hand, but I suspect prison food is pretty high in pork products, cheese and starches.

[brwnsuga]

My daughter did very well on Pro Sobee soy formula. I don’t know why these fools didn’t give their child some soy formula.

[brwnsuga]

these folks always look waxy

Like a squash....

[brwnsuga]

My dogs love carrot sticks and onions. Their treats are cereal-based.

..... dogs are carnivores...their diets should be based more on meat products with perhaps some vegetables every now and again. Cereal is not the best for dogs.

[Muzzle_em]

I have a friend who is ALMOST total vegan.
Seems like each month she gives up something else.
She eats NO dairy or red meat or pork.
She eats no shellfish.
Even some fruits and veggies are off limits.
She thinks she is super-healthy because she rarely has a period and has decided that her wonderful diet has made her period “light” as it SHOULD BE. I haven’t the heart to tell her that she is probably easing into early menopause at 42. She is 6 ft. tall and wears a size 4.

[brwnsuga]

Babies and young children need a certain amount of fat to be able to metabolize nutrients that are synthesized by lipids in the body.

[brwnsuga]

I am a nurse, and I know there are women for whom breastfeeding does not work out.

My first child, a daughter, didn’t take to it. I had a lactation consultant and worked and worked in the hospital and at home. I had an apparatus with a tube of formula that was taped to my nipple. We just never got it together. My second child, a son, took to nursing like a fish takes to water. He was 5lbs 2oz when I brought him home. Two days later at the doctor’s office, he weighed 5lbs 13oz....He nursed every hour and nursed his way to a Buddha belly and a fine pair of baby boobs.

[CholeraJoe]

My dogs are more omnivorous. Except for the odd cat that wanders into their domain, their food is mostly vegetable - corn, soy, peanuts. It does have some chicken protein and egg in it.

I've been advised by their vet to avoid animal based treats like rawhide, animal bones or pig ears due to the risk of airway blockage. I had to fish a pig ear out of one's throat a couple of years ago.

[Captain Rhino]

Actually, if it was up to me, prison food would be nutritionally balanced but as close as possible to being psychologically unpalatable. It would also provide the absolute minimum level of calories and nutrients needed to sustain the inmate in a lean but healthy state - provided you choked down every bit of it at every meal. Not a starvation diet just lean.

I sometimes think it would be something like vitamin-laced whole wheat cereal made with beef broth (or something equally as disgusting). Wash it down with an unflavored electrolyte drink.

Eating regular food would be a privilege you earned through good behavior. The better your behavior, the more often you would get to eat regular food. Otherwise, the wheat cereal broth sludge three times a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year, year in and year out, until you either die or get out.

[CholeraJoe]

The fat in Breast milk comes from the mother’s stores along with whatever she eats. Soybean oil, olive oil, nuts and seeds contain essential fatty acids.