Dale and Shannon
Hickman are 30 year old grieving parents. But they were both
convicted in 2011 of second-degree manslaughter for the death of their son,
David, who died nine hours after his home birth in 2009. Last week a judge
rejected an appeal made by the couple, saying again that they could have done
more to try and save their son.
Their son David was
born two months premature with undeveloped lungs and a staph infection
he’d gotten from his mother while she was pregnant. He died after having
trouble breathing and turning blue.
The Hickmans are
both members of a faith-healing church in Oregon that is clouded in
controversy. As you’ll hear in the video above, its members have an unusually
high number of child deaths due to their faith-healing practices.
The appeal the
Hickmans made last week was based on their conviction, on the grounds that the
prosecution had the burden to prove the couple knew their religious
beliefs would cause the death of their child, The New York Daily News reported.
During the couple’s
2011 trial, a doctor testified that baby David would have had a “99 percent
chance” of surviving had the couple called 911 or a doctor. The baby
officially died of staphylococcus pneumonia, which could have been treated.
Mr Hickman said he
didn’t call 911 because he was praying. The couple never considered taking the
baby to the hospital, prosecutors said. Instead, they annointed the sickly baby
with oils. Shannon Hickman said that she had no choice but to do as
her husband said because of church rules.
The Hickmans’
conviction on second-degree manslaughter charges typically requires a mandatory
minimum sentence of six years in prison, but because of a religious
exemption in state law which hadn’t expired in 2011, they may only receive
18 months in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Two other parents
from the church were convicted earlier this year for failing to seek medical
care for their infant daughter.
She had a growth
that could have left her blind in one eye – and they were sentenced to three
months in jail.
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This post was
republished from firsttoknow.com. You can find the original post here.
