Vegan Couple Gets Life For Child's Death

(AP)  A vegan couple was sentenced Wednesday to life in prison in the death of their malnourished 6-week-old, who was fed a diet largely consisting of soy milk and apple juice.

Judge L.A. McConnell imposed the sentences on Jade Sanders, 27, and Lamont Thomas, 31, for starving the boy, who weighed just 3 1/2 pounds when he died.

Six-week-old Crown Shakur died of starvation April 25, 2004. His parents attributed his emaciated state to their strict vegan diet. Vegans are people who do not eat or use any animal products.

The couple was found guilty May 2 of malice murder, felony murder, involuntary manslaughter and cruelty to children. A jury deliberated about seven hours before returning the guilty verdicts.

Defense lawyers said the first-time parents did the best they could while 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 prosecutor Mike Carlson told the jury during closing arguments: "They're not vegans. They're baby killers!"

[wiccantexan]

It was great that you quoted me, but you selectively quoted what I wrote to make it appear that I supported the behaviour of the parents. The rest of my statement was; "This is about their completely pre-meditated, irresponsible behaviour & neglect."
Posted by ecuadoriana at 04:49 PM : May 09, 2007

*grin* I know; I was agreeing with you, and not quoting you as pro-the parents. Sorry if it seemed otherwise.

[wiccantexan]

You're refering to people who feed their kids dead animals whom lived their lives in torture & abuse before being murdered in most horrific & unsanitary ways, right?
Posted by ecuadoriana at 01:44 PM : May 09, 2007

Yes, it's more moral to NOT feed your newborn, which would consitute making that baby live its short life in torture & abuse before being murdered in the most horrific & unsanitary way.

[tm_bailey]

Agnim,
Where did you get that this is a racist story?!?! Last I read the article, there was no mention of race.
Let me guess, you're the kind that just likes to start trouble in here.

That aside, I couldn't imagine what these people were thinking.....the child must've been screaming b/c it was hungry, had diarrhea like crazy (it happens when the baby's stomach isn't obsorbing the nutrients it needs). I just don't get it.

[ecuadoriana]

"...most vegans are nucking futz anyways"
Posted by comfortmd1 at 09:22 AM : May 10, 2007

What facts do you base this startling revelation on? How many vegans do you actually know personally? How many do you hang out with on a regular basis so that you are able to first hand observe them & their "nucking futz" behaviours?

I suspect the answer is "none".

I could go out on a limb here & suggest that most meat eaters are "nucking futz". Let's start with a most recent murderous rampage news event that took place in Virginia. It's rarely if ever reported that vegans go out on murderous rampages & shoot everyone in sight. That would be an act of your basic carnivore. But that's never mentioned in the news. "Startling new evidence in case: Gang rapists were known meat eaters, frequenting local mcdonalds & BBQ restaurants!"

These people were idiots & baby killers. But that had nothing to do with the fact that they are vegans.

That is right up there with saying that someone is a murderer because he's black.

[comfortmd1]

breast milk AND formula are not proscribed by the vegan diet. their defense was only an excuse for bad parenting. most vegans are nucking futz anyways

[me4prezz]

You're refering to people who feed their kids dead animals whom lived their lives in torture & abuse before being murdered in most horrific & unsanitary ways, right?

Do any of you actually think about what is in that nitrate & sodium saturated "meat by-product"?! Once you know, you may want to adjust the toilet seat accordingly!
Posted by ecuadoriana at 01:44 PM : May 09, 2007

I think it was in reference to at least FEEDING your kids. Starvation is blatantly obvious and that baby had to be SCREAMING for hours from hunger to the point of just being too exhausted to from lack of nutrients. Hair would have been falling out. Eyes and skin would have been dry and possibly turning yellow from kidney failure. I have 3 children and my baby screams when she is has not had her formula within a few hours. New parents or not, you know when someone is suffering and this baby suffered. Vegan doesn't excuse this kind of abuse.

[me4prezz]

You're refering to people who feed their kids dead animals whom lived their lives in torture & abuse before being murdered in most horrific & unsanitary ways, right?

Do any of you actually think about what is in that nitrate & sodium saturated "meat by-product"?! Once you know, you may want to adjust the toilet seat accordingly!
Posted by ecuadoriana at 01:44 PM : May 09, 2007

I think it was in reference to at least FEEDING your kids. Starvation is blatantly obvious and that baby had to be SCREAMING for hours from hunger to the point of just being too exhausted to from lack of nutrients. Hair would have been falling out. Eyes and skin would have been dry and possibly turning yellow from kidney failure. I have 3 children and my baby screams when she is has not had her formula within a few hours. New parents or not, you know when someone is suffering and this baby suffered. Vegan doesn't excuse this kind of abuse.

[agnim]

"Vegan Couple Gets Life For Child's Death"

EVERYONE KNOWS WHAT THIS MISCARRIAGE OF JUSTICE IS!
Another act of racism as plain as day.

Is this murder?

And it's not like these bigoted devils give a *** about the well being of that child. Of course not.

These racist judges will use any little excuse to send Black people to their slavery prison!

Little wonder American slavery prisons are filled with an inordinate amounts of African Americans: We have racist prosecutors and racist judges who are eager to use a racist injustice system to enslave Black people in their slavery prisons!

But not to worry, the days of the white supremacist and their evil systems are winding down!

[sy2502]

Ignorance is not an excuse. If you want to have children, you must know how to care for them, or don't have them. I guess these people would rather practice cruelty against their own child than the perceived and debatable cruelty of using animal products. Of course, the fact that the food chain has been at the basis of life on Earth for millions of years and is, therefore perfectly natural, is lost on those loonies...

[tararose077]

"This is a bad decision. Parents have a right, and perhaps an obligation, to feed their children the same foods that the parents ate when the child was being developed in the womb. If the diet produces lethal effects, so be it. The offspring of any species survives depending on the capablility of the parents......".
Posted by drivelphobe at 12:02 PM : May 09, 2007"

You are not a mother are you, if the mother of a child fed their child what she ate in the womb it would be dead no matter what kind of diet the mother consumed. An infant in the womb is given nutrients via the blood stream...directly to theirs...therefore they don't get the raw food that mothers get. I did some searching and every vegan site I saw says that the mothers breastmilk is the best for the baby, however if the mother is incapable of breast feeding then soy formula not soy milk is correct for the baby, as it has fat and proteins that the baby is in dire need of. This is a case of child neglect, and unknowledgable parents who care more about portraying a lifestyle than caring for their infant.