The sentencing of a vegan Florida mother who starved her 18-month-old son to death was postponed for the second time on Monday.
Sheila O'Leary, 38, was to learn her fate on Monday, but her sentencing was postponed until August 15 in Lee County. She faces her life in prison.
On June 28, her O'Leary, whose family practiced a strict vegan diet,first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, and child abuse, and was convicted of her two counts. Child neglect in her Ezra O'Leary death in 2019.
The infant weighed only 17 pounds, putting her 7 pounds below the average for children of her age, yet her parents noticed she had stopped breathing in September 2019. rice field. complications.
Ezra's father, Ryan Patrick O'Leary, 33, later this month to the same bill as his wife.
Additional charges were filed against the father last week for sexually assaulting a victim under the age of 12 and indecent assault on her 12-year-old victim .
Sheila O'Leary was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 25, but the pre-sentencing report from the State Department of Corrections and a motion for a new trial were still pending, so that decision was made. The hearing has been postponed.
O'Leary's defense attorney, her Lee Hollander , told the news press onMonday. report has not yet been completed.
According to the police report, investigators said the couple said the family ate only raw fruits and vegetables, but the infant was also breastfed.
"This kid didn't eat. He starved to death over his 18 months," said Francine Donormo, chief of the Special Victims Division at the Lee County Attorney's Office. said during the trial.
The prosecutor accused the mother of failing to seek proper medical care when she realized her son was ill. I chose," Assistant Attorney Sarah Miller said in closing arguments. "I didn't need a scale to see his bones. I didn't need a scale to hear him cry."
Mr. and Mrs. O'Leary had three other They had two children, ages 1 and 5, who were also malnourished, investigators said. A fourth child was returned to his biological father in an earlier malnutrition case in Virginia, according to court records.
Sheila's attorney showed her mother a photo of her with one of her children during the trial, stating that she never intended to harm the child. showed.
"Do you look like a mother who wants to kill her child?" said Hollander. "Just because it happened doesn't mean she committed a crime."
Hollander called for a new trial, saying "errors" led to her conviction. She said she would like a new attorney if the motion was granted, and told a judge in July that her attorney had not defended her as she had hoped. 78} with post wire
