A vegan mother from Florida, USA, was sentenced to life in prison for the death of her child from starvation at just 18 months old. The woman fed the child only raw fruits and vegetables. Sheila O’Leary, 38, learned her sentence Monday after the decision was delayed four times after she was convicted in late June of first-degree murder in the 2019 death of her son, Ezra O’Leary.
The Cape Coral woman also received two 30-year sentences for aggravated child abuse and manslaughter, as well as an additional five-year sentence for child abuse and neglect, according to the Fort Myers News-Press.
The judge ordered O’Leary, who stood silently wearing a red prison jumpsuit, to have no contact with her other children.
Her lawyer said after the hearing that he intends to appeal the sentence.
Husband Ryan O’Leary, 33, remains in jail awaiting trial on the same charges. In early August, additional charges of sexual assault on a victim under 12 and indecent assault on a victim under 12 were filed against the father.
Investigators said the O’Leary couple told them the family ate only raw fruits and vegetables, although Ezra was also breastfed.
The 18-month-old boy weighed just 7.7kg and was the size of a 7-month-old baby when he died in September 2019, according to the police report. An autopsy found that little Ezra died of complications from malnutrition.
“This child was not eating. Starved to death for 18 months”said Francine Donnorummo, head of the Lee County District Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit, during Sheila O’Leary’s trial.
The couple had two other children, ages 3 and 5, who were also malnourished, investigators said. A fourth child, age 11, had been returned to his biological father because malnutrition had also arisen, court documents show.
Source: News Beast
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