Vegetarians Charged in Daughter's Death !!!!!!!!

[Daanyeer]

Source: www.atforumz.com
June 6, 2003 Author: Associated Press


MIAMI (AP) - A couple devoted to a vegetarian diet of uncooked food were charged with manslaughter Friday in the malnutrition death of their 5-month-old daughter, who died weighing less than she did at birth. Lamoy Andressohn, 27, and Joseph Andressohn, 34, also were charged with neglecting their four surviving children, who were taken by the state after their sister Woyah's death May 15. Woyah weighed 6.99 pounds when she died, slightly less than the 7 pounds her mother told investigators she weighed when she was born. Doctors say a full-term baby should have weighed about 15 pounds at 5 months. Woyah died several days after neighbors in their Homestead apartment complex complained about the family to the state Department of Children & Families. She was the fourth child in three months to die under the watch of the troubled agency's Miami district. Investigators said the surviving children, ranging in age from 1 1/2 to 6 years, also were malnourished.


They are staying with a relative and have gained weight while maintaining a vegetarian diet. The mother said she breast-fed the baby, but the girl's 4- and 6-year-old brothers told investigators she was fed coconut milk, almond milk and avocado juice. Nutrition experts say the "living foods" diet of uncooked organic food followed by the family must be balanced for good health and growth. The parents were arrested as they left a custody hearing for their surviving children and were to be held for a bond hearing Saturday. No attorneys were immediately appointed for them. The Andressohns could each face 30 years in prison on the manslaughter charge and five years on each neglect charge.