LETHBRIDGE, Alta. — The guilt or innocence of a couple charged in the bacterial meningitis death of their toddler son in Alberta four years ago will soon be in the hands of a jury.
David Stephan, 32, and Collet Stephan, 35, are charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life to 19-month-old Ezekiel in 2012.
Alberta Justice Rodney Jerke is scheduled to deliver his charge to the jury this afternoon at the conclusion of the six week trial after closing arguments wrapped up on the weekend.
The couple believed that Ezekiel was simply suffering from the croup.
As a result, they treated him with remedies that included smoothies containing hot peppers, garlic, onions and horseradish over 2 1/2 weeks before he stopped breathing and was rushed to hospital.
Ezekiel was taken to the Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary where doctors detected little brain activity and he died a couple of days later.
The Crown says the Stephans didn't do enough to ensure Ezekiel received the medical treatment that he required and had been warned that the boy likely had meningitis.
A friend of the Stephans, who is a registered nurse, testified she told the mother that he might have viral meningitis and advised the boy be taken to a doctor.
Court documents entered in the trial say just days before Ezekiel was rushed to hospital his family was giving him fluids through an eyedropper because he wouldn't eat or drink.
The jury has also heard that Collet Stephan researched treatments for viral meningitis online and the next day picked up an echinacea mixture from a naturopath in Lethbridge.
Court was told Ezekiel was too stiff to sit in his car seat and had to lie on a mattress as they drove to the naturopath's office the day before he stopped breathing.
In her final submission, prosecutor Lisa Weich told the jury that this isn't a case of murder or manslaughter but rather failure to provide the little boy with the help he needed.
"Clearly they do not want to be held responsible for the decisions that they made while watching Ezekiel. What parent would?," she said.
"No one wants to think that they had any part and that they had any responsibility in acting inappropriately when it comes to taking care of their child."
Weich said there's no question that the Stephans loved their son but they failed him by not getting him the help he needs.
Defence lawyer Shawn Buckley said the jury has to decide if the Stephans' actions were a "marked departure of what a reasonable and prudent parent would do."
"Did they seek medical attention and did they seek it soon enough?" he asked in his closing arguments.
Once the charge to the jury is completed - the jurors will be sequestered until a verdict is reached.
The maximum penalty for failing to provide the necessaries of life is five years in prison.
