Baby killers?

[Ck]

A court jury in Atlanta convicted a vegan couple of murder and cruelty to children due to the death of their six week old, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.

27 year old Jade Sanders and 31 year old Lamont Thomas will receive automatic life sentences for starving the boy, who weighed just 3.5 pounds when he died.

The defense said the first time parents did the best they could whilst 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 the prosecutor told the jury during closing arguments that "they're not vegans, they're baby killers."

The jury deliberated about seven hours before returning the guilty verdicts.

In Atlanta murder carries a mandatory life sentence whereas involuntary manslaughter, reckless conduct that results in an unintentional death, is punishable by up to one year in jail.

Do you think it's fair that they have been branded murderers?

[Earl]

Yes. Pair of dickheads.

[SFB]

It's hard to comment, the laws are so much different around the globe that we have nothing to compare this to.

Laws in the US vary from State to State, as do the taxes.

[Alpha]

Yes. a baby shouldn't be forced to become a vegan for fucks sake.

[Earl]

It shouldn't be starved to death by negligent parents, that's for sure.

[THE V0NZ]

Laws in the US vary from State to State, as do the taxes.

Ha! I think you'll find it's actually TEXAS!

Texas is a state of the United States of America located in the country's Southern and Southwestern regions. With an area of 678,051 km² (261,797 square miles) and a population of 23.5 million in 254 counties, the state is second-largest in both area, behind Alaska, and population, behind California. About half the state's population resides in either the Dallas–Fort Worth or Houston metropolitan areas.[2]
The state's name derives from a word in the Caddoan language of the Hasinai, táyshaʔ, "Friend".[3][4][5] Texas declared its independence from Mexico in 1836 and existed as the independent Republic of Texas for nearly a decade. In 1845, it joined the United States as the 28th state.
Texas is internationally known for its energy and aeronautics industries, and for its use of ship channel at the Port of Houston—the largest in the U.S. in international commerce and the sixth-largest port in the world.[6] The state is home to numerous Fortune 500 companies and has the second-largest economy in the United States.[7][8] The Texas Medical Center contains the world's largest concentration of research and healthcare institutions.[9]

A rare slip up from you there I think!

[A_B]

I don't know whether it would be fair to brand them as murders just because they've tried to give the baby a vegan diet - but I do think they've neglected the baby and maybe chose to ignore the fact they've been starving it.

How the hell do you not know a baby is in danger until minutes before it dies when it only weighs 3.5lbs. It's either neglect, or they've been infected with the 'stupid gene'.

[Tweety]

arseholes

[THE V0NZ]

A court jury in Atlanta convicted a vegan couple of murder and cruelty to children due to the death of their six week old, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.

Though it sounds like a bizarre regime, if my memory serves me correct it's recommended to feed babies nothing but breastmilk or formula for the first six months, weaning onto solids thereafter.

It seems perfectly plausible to me that the pair in question thought what they were doing was ok - there is a wealth of information on the net about soya based formulations that are suitable for babies;

http://www.vegansociety.com/html/peo...astfeeding.php

Obviously 'breast is best', and it's difficult to see how the mother's milk would have been ethically wrong from a Vegan perspective, but maybe she tried and failed - breastfeeding is hard, especially for first-time mothers.

There's little doubt they were negligent in letting the situation deteriorate to the extent that the poor mite passed away, but if anything it's a damning indictment of the the lack of support for newborns in the USA. From our experience there's no way a situation like that could have been allowed to run it's course over here.

And they obviously don't have the same issues with prison capacity in the States as we have here, if they can put away two ignorant, grief-stricken fools for life.

So no, I don't think a murder verdict was appropriate.