US state of Florida: Vegan (38) starved her little son – life imprisonment

published30. August 2022, 09:35

US state of Florida: Vegan (38) starved her little son – life imprisonment

A Florida mother who caused her son’s death by eating an all-vegan diet faces life imprisonment. Ezra, 18 months old, weighed just eight kilos when he died.

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Sheila O’Leary has been sentenced to life plus 65 years in prison.

CBS Miami

She and her husband starved their youngest son to death.

Fox 4

The trial of Sheila’s husband Ryan is yet to come.

Lee County Sheriff’s Office

• A Florida couple starved their youngest son from eating only raw fruits and vegetables.

• At the time of his death, 18-month-old Ezra O’Leary weighed eight kilos.

• Now the mother has been sentenced to life imprisonment.

A strict vegan woman has been sentenced to life in prison for killing her malnourished son. The sentence was announced on Monday in the US state of Florida. Defendant Sheila O’Leary, 38, was found guilty in June of six counts, including murder and aggravated child molestation.

She was accused of causing malnutrition to her 18-month-old son, Ezra, who died in September 2019. The sentence should have been announced earlier; however, the date in Lee County, Florida had to be postponed four times. In addition to the life sentence, O’Leary received 65 years for other offenses related to the child’s death. O’Leary was barred from contact with her living children. Her lawyer plans to appeal the verdict.

Only eaten raw fruits and vegetables

According to investigators, the woman and her husband had stated that the family only ate raw fruit and vegetables. The child also got breast milk. At the time of his death, the boy weighed just eight kilos and was the size of a seven-month-old baby, according to a police report. The couple had stated following the child’s death that he had not eaten for the week before and had trouble sleeping the night before his death.

The husband faces the same charges as the wife. His trial is yet to come. According to investigators, two other children of the couple, aged three and five, were also malnourished. A fourth child that Sheila O’Leary has with another man was previously granted to the child’s father.

(DPA/trx)