CALGARY — A sentencing hearing is to begin today for a Calgary couple who delayed taking their gravely ill son to hospital until it was too late.
A jury found Jennifer and Jeromie Clark guilty last fall of criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessaries of life.
The trial heard 14-month-old John didn’t see a doctor until the day before he died of a staph infection in November 2013.
Jurors were shown photos of the child after he died and he had blackened toes and a red rash covering three quarters of his body.
They also saw screen shots of online searches for natural remedies for gangrene such as cabbage leaves and cayenne.
The couple’s lawyers suggested doctors at the Alberta Children’s Hospital were to blame because they raised the boy’s sodium and fluid levels too aggressively.
The forensic pathologist’s report said John was malnourished and died from a staph infection.