A Cape Coral, Florida, vegan mother’s life-long fate was sealed last week when a judge sentenced her to life in prison over the death of her 18-month-old son, who starved to death as a result of the family’s strict diet, according to new reporting from Business Insider and others.
The Florida State Attorney’s office recently announced that Sheila O’Leary was officially found guilty of first-degree murder and handed a sentence of life behind bars in connection to the 2019 death of her 18-month-old son Ezra. The Florida State Attorney’s office confirmed that Ezra’s heartbreaking and untimely death was a direct result of severe malnutrition and dehydration in connection to the family’s strict vegan diet.
According to reporting from local Fort Myers News-Press, Sheila and her husband Ryan O’Leary confirmed to investigators on the case that their family only eats raw fruits and vegetables and 18-month-old Ezra was also given breastmilk. However, the News-Press reports the parents did admit that Ezra had not eaten anything for a week prior to his death.
Speaking of evidence presented at Sheila O’Leary’s trial, the state’s attorney’s office said it “proved the child died due to complications from severe malnutrition and dehydration.”
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Sheila and Ryan O’Leary are the parents to three other children, a 3-year-old, 5-year-old, and 11-year-old, all of whom the Florida State Attorney’s office said were also victims of “extreme neglect and child abuse.”
Sheila was ultimately sentenced to 30 years in prison on the charge of aggravated child abuse, as well as an additional 30 years in prison for aggravated manslaughter of a child, and an additional 5 years in prison on counts of child abuse and child neglect, according to the state’s attorney’s office.
Her husband Ryan O’Leary remains in jail where he faces the same aforementioned charges as his wife, in addition to two molestation charges, per reporting from the News-Press.
Research suggests that vegan diets can be healthy, provided that they’re done correctly and safely, but growing children, in particular, can benefit from supplementation.
Children who maintain a vegan diet were found to have better heart health than their omnivore counterparts, in a 2021 study, but were also found to have stunted growth in comparison to children who consume a healthy and balance diet of meats, vegetables, fruits, and carbohydrates. The study found that this could be due to a lack of vitamin B and D as well as calcium.
Unprocessed, raw fruits and vegetables like the O’Leary’s exclusively consumed are categorically low in both calories and protein. According to the Mayo Clinic, children require adequate amounts of both to sustain their activities and growth, regardless of whether they’re consuming a vegan diet or not.
Featured image via screen capture
