Parents charged with starving baby to death are expecting another child

[rainbow4321]

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-dvegan03feb03,0,2735458.story?coll=sfla-news-miami

The parents of a 5-month-old girl who authorities say died in 2003 of malnutrition caused by a strict vegan diet are expecting another child within three months, their attorney said Wednesday.

Attorney Ellis Rubin said the mother, Lamoy Andressohn, has been receiving care from a medical doctor while continuing to stick to her diet. Rubin said he advised Andressohn and her husband, Joseph, to seek the medical guidance to avoid any "further grief" from officials.

The parents recently learned that the child will be a girl, and have already named her Joyah.

The Andressohns had Woyah and her siblings on a strict raw food diet that consisted primarily of almond milk and uncooked fruits and vegetables, consistent with the dietary guidelines of their Hebrew Israelite religion. Rubin told a judge last month that a birth defect caused the death, not the diet.

[notadmblnd]

1. don't you know its, OK to kill babies once they're born

it's just when they're in utero that they're valuable.

[rainbow4321]

4. And yet another case....

With all the decent women out there who can't get pregnant..why are THESE women the ones who GET pregnant?

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/news/local/miami/sfl-dparent03feb03,0,1708773.story?coll=sfla-news-miami


Woman charged in beating death of daughter gives up rights to (other) infant

A legal battle over an infant girl who was born in the same week Miami-Dade County prosecutors charged her mother with killing another daughter ended on Tuesday without a fight when Yusimil Herrera, voluntarily gave up her parental rights.

Herrera, 21, has been charged with second-degree murder for the May 16 beating death of her 3-year-old daughter, Angel Hope. If convicted, she could be sentenced to life in prison.

The toddler died while Herrera was still pregnant with her third daughter, Estefany Angela Medrano. Herrera did not fight efforts to strip her parental rights during a brief hearing on Tuesday, but her attorney accused child welfare officials of pressuring her.

Attorney Mark Eiglarsh said lawyers with the state Department of Children & Families insisted on solving the parental rights question before Herrera stood trial.

[egoprofit]

16. republicans or democrats? who cares? THIS WORLD IS SICK

SICK.

[Ian David]

2. The Hebrew Israelite Cult / Hate Group

Hating in the Name of God
By Benjamin Radford

<snip>
Miami's Yahweh ben Yahweh cult, the most notorious sect of the Black Hebrew Israelites, was implicated in a reign of terror in the 1980s that included fire bombings, extortion, and 14 murders. The leader, Hulon Mitchell Jr., is in prison for conspiracy in connection with the murders. Mitchell ordered the slayings of defectors as well as the murder of random Whites as part of an initiation to an inner circle within the cult.

According to the Southern Poverty Law Center, a Black supremacist group named the Stream of Knowledge is being investigated in six states. They are described as an offshoot of the Black Hebrew Israelite religion, and have been amassing weapons and followers for years. The Stream allegedly recruits at military bases and in prisons, preparing for a race war.

Both the Black Hebrew Israelites and Louis Farrakhan are in some ways mirror images of the Christian Identity groups: Both see Jews as the spawn of Satan and accuse them of secretly controlling modern America.

Racist messages embedded in religion are nothing new. But the medium for disseminating such hatred has changed dramatically. No longer limited to short wave radio transmissions and blurry, grammatically challenged flyers, Christian Identity is spreading in the form of White power rock music, slick magazines, and the Internet. According to Susan DeCamp of the Montana Association of Churches, Christian Identity families have also infiltrated small fundamentalist churches, at times trying to incorporate their racist beliefs into their church's doctrines.

More:
http://www.secularhumanism.org/library/aah/radford_10_3.htm



See also:
http://www.meta-religion.com/New_religious_groups/some_crimes/black_hebrew_israelites.htm

Black Hebrew Israelites

Baby's starvation death under investigation

South Florida Sun-Sentinel, May 17, 2003
http://www.sun-sentinel.com/
By Diana Marrero, Miami Bureau


<snip>
The Andressohns are members of the Hebrew Israelites, a group of African-Americans who consider themselves the true descendants of the biblical tribe of Judah. Members are referred to as saints, and many take the last name "Ben Israel," meaning son of Israel.
<snip>

In the past two years, DCF received several abuse allegations that the children were not adequately fed, according to a source familiar with the case. It is not clear how child abuse investigators responded, but child advocates question whether DCF mishandled the case.
<snip>

However, the parents' dietary practices and religious beliefs would not be a sufficient defense for inadequately nourishing their child, he said.

"They can't impose their religious or dietary beliefs if doing so places the child in physical jeopardy," he said.
<snip>

In California, three members of a secretive group known as "The Family" pleaded guilty last year to felony child endangerment charges after a 19-month-old boy died of starvation. Prosecutors said the toddler's death was the result of his biological parent's strict vegetarian lifestyle.

In Massachusetts, a jury convicted a cult leader last year of first-degree murder for starving his infant son to death to comply with a religious vision.

More:
http://www.meta-religion.com/New_religious_groups/some_crimes/black_hebrew_israelites.htm


Also:
Posted on Tue, Jul. 22, 2003
Raw-food vegetarian ate steaks, report says
BY TERE FIGUERAS
tfigueras~herald.com

A Homestead couple whose infant daughter died of malnutrition subjected the girl to ''cleansing'' enemas and punished their other children for straying from a raw-food diet -- even as the father smoked cigarettes and indulged in the occasional steak, according to documents released Monday by the county medical examiner's office.
<snip>
Her stomach held nothing but air and eight ounces of a ''grassy'' smelling liquid and even her body and stool had the same grassy odor, according to the documents.
<snip>
According to the medical examiner's case file, Lamoy and Joseph Andressohn gave Woyah wheat grass enemas -- and allowed her 6-year-old brother and 4-year-old sister to assist -- because they thought the child was toxic.

The other children also received enemas as well, according to the 6-year-old, who was interviewed by the state attorney's office.

''When children ate cooked food, they were given enemas as punishment,'' wrote Motte.

More:
http://forum.lowcarber.org/printthread.php?t=229725

See also:

What is a cult?
http://www.cultwatch.com/cults.html

What is a hate group?
http://www.adl.org/mwd/students.asp

[YellowRubberDuckie]

14. Not everyone beats their child in the name of religion.

Was I the only one who read the original message and reply number 4 without actually seeing ANYTHING about religion? I understand some of you hate people who believe in God for whatever ridiculous reason it is this week, but we're not all looney or uneducated. Why does everything have to come back to religion with you people!?
Duckie

[RubyDuby in GA]

15. These people do

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/americas/1769634.stm

House of Prayer.
More like a House of Torture.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

17. Yep.

I'm sure there are atheists who beat their kids too. Violence isn't unique to one group.
Duckie

[fishwax]

19. Well, the religion is mentioned in the OP

:shrug:

[rainbow4321]

20. "consistent w/ the dietary guidelines of their Hebrew Israelite religion"

Oohhhh..can't we all just get along...questioning posts is one thing but do it nicely...

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[Ian David]

3. Black Hebrew Israelites

<snip>
Violent BHI followers can generally be described as proponents of an extreme form of black supremacy. Drawing upon the teachings of earlier BHI adherents, such groups hold that blacks represent God's true "chosen people," while condemning whites as incarnate manifestations of evil. As God's "authentic" Jews, BHI adherents believe that mainstream Jews are actually imposters. Such beliefs bear a striking resemblance to the Christian Identity theology practiced by many white supremacists. In fact, Tom Metzger, renowned white supremacist, once remarked, "They're the black counterpart of us." (28) Like their Christian Identity counterparts, militant BHI followers tend to see themselves as divinely endowed by God with superior status. As a result, some followers of this belief system hold that violence, including murder, is justifiable in the eyes of God, provided that it helps to rid the world of evil. Violent BHI groups are of particular concern as the millennium approaches because they believe in the inevitability of a race war between blacks and whites.

While the BHI community in Israel is peaceful, BHI adherents in the United States became associated with violence thanks to the rise of the NOY, which reached the height of its popularity in the 1980s. The NOY was founded in 1979 and led by Yahweh Ben Yahweh. Ben Yahweh's followers viewed him as the Messiah, and therefore demonstrated unrequited and unquestioned obedience. Members of the organization engaged in numerous acts of violence in the 1980s, including several homicides, following direct orders from Ben Yahweh. Seventeen NOY.25 members were indicted by a federal grand jury in Miami in 1990-91 on charges of RICO, RICO conspiracy, and various racketeering acts. Various members were convicted on RICO conspiracy charges and remain imprisoned.

More:
http://www.apologeticsindex.org/usa-08.html

[YellowRubberDuckie]

5. Well, I'm all for forced sterilization in these cases.

But I know our liberal sensibilities rule that out. But I guess it's better that these idiots procreate, keep their reproductive rights, and possibly keep killing children. :eyeroll: I'm a liberal to the bone, but some of this crap makes no sense to even me. It's easier to have a child than it is to get a driver's license in this world. It's insane.
Duckie

[Redstone]

6. Duckie, you'll get a lot of flak for that opinion

but I agree with you.

That poor kid doesn't have much of a life to look forward to, does she?

Redstone

[Ian David]

7. But at least she has a traditional family with a mother and a father

who believe in Gawd.

That's all that matters.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

8. I'm sure...but I've learned not to care about the flak here...

I don't agree with a lot of people here. And I try to be the most fair, non judgemental person to my fellow DUers, but I don't get the same respect. Thanks for agreeing with me, Redstone. After a little thought, I think that woman should be able to have as many children as she wants, but she should be stripped of her parental rights. Those children should be given to a couple who can't have children, one that would be able to provide a loving environment to that child.
Duckie

[VegasWolf]

9. Hey, I agree with you Duckie! n/t

[davsand]

11. I've been smacked around over this same kind of thing before.

IMO, I could care less WHAT religion is at work, I could give a crap about the motives of the parents. ALL I care about is that the parents made decisions for the kid that placed the kid in danger or caused harm. IMO, the parents should not be allowed to keep any more kids if they follow that same path, end of story.

I know that "religious freedom" is supposed to be a foundation of our society, but dammit, we are supposed to PROTECT kids from loonies--even if they are the parents. IMO, religious freedom stops at the point that it endangers other people's lives, and that includes kids.

Duckie, you are not the only on who's gonna get flamed here.


Laura

[alarimer]

12. And why haven't their other kids been removed??

They shouldn't be there.

[YellowRubberDuckie]

13. They shouldn't...

Kids need nutrients. A vegan diet is a lifestyle choice for adults, not for kids. Babies should be putting on weight. If the woman was worried about her kid's health, why didn't she just breast feed or something? Obviously she wasn't worried about her kids' health as much as she was worried about some animal not getting milked for cheese or whatnot.
Duckie

[alarimer]

21. Actually I don't know if they are in danger or not

The other kids, I mean. But it doesn't seem that this way of life is healthy for kids (I am not sure it is all that healthy for adults either but it is their choice). Obviously an infant that is not gaining weight is probably not healthy. So I have to wonder how healthy the other kids are too. I am not saying they have to eat meat; the probably don't but milk is probably necessary for their bones.

[PurityOfEssence]

10. Yet more fun with religion

Of course, religion is good, so no comments may be made in open society.

[noamnety]

18. So was it a birth defect?

Sounds like they've been charged but not found guilty.