Vegan Parents Accused Of Starving Their Baby

2024 Author: Steven Freeman | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 08:15

A vegan couple faces charges of allegedly starving their baby for putting the boy on a strict raw food diet. Sheila O'Leary, 35, and Ryan O'Leary, 30, are accused of starving their 18-month-old son for feeding him only raw fruits and vegetables, according to investigators in the case.

The baby weighed just 17 pounds, The Florida Myers News Press reported. According to police, the mother called 911 to report that the boy was cold and was not breathing. The father tried to revive him at his home in Cape Coral, but when authorities arrived, they pronounced the dead boy.

According to the police report, the boy showed signs of being malnourished. The New York Post reports that the mother explained to officers that the family was vegan and that her four children ate only raw food, and her diet consisted of mangoes, bananas, avocados, and rambutants. The mother revealed to authorities that the boy had not eaten solid food in a week, but was drinking breast milk. She assured that she thought the baby did not want to eat because her teeth were coming out.

The parents turned themselves in to authorities when the coroner's report revealed that the boy had died of malnutrition, the Florida Myers News Press reported. The couple is in the Lee County Jail on $ 250,000 bail. The case remains under investigation.