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Brothers testify in parents’ trial over sister’s raw food diet
One of two brothers who testified on Wednesday in their parents’ trial on child neglect and manslaughter charges said he was told his infant sister died accidentally, and that he was hungry while on a strict raw food diet, but feared punishment if he said so.
Both boys, aged 7 and 9, said they are now eating cooked food, including tacos. They and two other children of Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn have been living with a relative under state supervision since their 6-month-old sister, Woyah, died in May 2003.
Prosecutor Herbert E. Walker III said that the Andressohns starved their infant daughter by feeding her only wheat grass, coconut water and milk made from almonds. The couple maintain a strict raw food diet, which adherents believe is healthier and more natural.
Woyah weighed less than seven pounds when she died, less than half what she should have at her age. The defense contends the baby died not from starvation, but from a rare genetic disorder.
The two boys have had no contact with their parents since they were arrested and led away in handcuffs shortly after Woyah was pronounced dead on May 15, 2003.
The Andressohns stared intently at a television monitor as their sons testified via closed circuit hookup from a couch in the chambers of Miami-Dade Circuit Judge Stanford Blake. The judge overruled defense attorneys’ objections that the Andressohns’ constitutional rights were being violated by not being able to confront the boys directly in the courtroom.
The 9-year-old boy, sucking from a straw in a soda cup, was the first to testify. He remembered his parents feeding him raw food, vegetables and fruit. He said he had been hungry, but did not complain because he did not want to get punished.
- Baby’s starvation death under investigation
As part of the diet regimen, he and his brother were given enemas.
On cross-examination by defense attorneys, the boy testified that lots of people tell him that his mother loves him, but he could not recall her name. He remembered going to Disney theme parks.
He replied “kinda” when asked if he loves his parents. He said he was told by his mother that his sister “died in an accident.”
The boy also said he thought his aunt told him he’d have to go to jail if he wanted to see his mother and father.
Blake stopped a defense attorney from telling the older boy that his parents loved him and their brother. Each parent waved at each as they ended their testimony.
The trial is expected to last about another week. If convicted, the parents could be sentenced to more than 17 years each in prison.
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