Elizabeth Strus died at the age of eight after she was denied diabetes medication for six days.
In Australia, the parents of an eight-year-old girl, along with 12 others, have been convicted of manslaughter after she was denied diabetes medication and died. This comes after an Australian blogger was accused of torturing her young daughter and taking pictures of her suffering and pain in order to raise donations.
On January 7, 2022, Elizabeth Strus died at home in Toowoomba after suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis, the BBC reports. On Wednesday, January 27, 2024, it was decided that the baby's parents, Jason and Kerry Strus, and members of the religious group they belonged to, called The Saints, had “deprived” her of “the one thing that would have certainly kept her alive.”
Elizabeth was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 2019 after being admitted to hospital in a diabetic coma. Her family was told of the diagnosis at the time and told she required daily insulin injections. But in 2022, when Elizabeth began showing signs of high blood sugar, instead of injecting her with insulin, her parents and other members of their religious group decided to pray and sing for her instead of giving her the hormone, The New York Times reports. The eight-year-old survived just six days without her prescribed insulin shots.
During the trial, which began last July and lasted several months, prosecutors called 60 witnesses and found that Elizabeth had high blood sugar, which led to diabetic ketoacidosis and, ultimately, her death.
Diabetic ketoacidosis is a serious complication of diabetes that occurs when the body cannot produce enough insulin, the Mayo Clinic explains. “Insulin plays a key role in ensuring that sugar, the main source of energy for muscles and other tissues, enters the body's cells,” the clinic adds.
During the trial, prosecutors read descriptions of Elizabeth in the last days of her life, in which the young child was described as vomiting, feeling extremely tired, talking little, needing help going to the toilet, and suffering from urinary incontinence, and even losing consciousness.
When Elizabeth died, the court heard that the religious group believed she would be resurrected, which is why they called in the authorities 36 hours after her death.
Elizabeth's father told the court that he and she had agreed to “stop taking insulin together” and that he still believed his daughter would be resurrected: “To you all it looks like God has failed. But I know Elizabeth is just sleeping and I will see her again. Because God has promised and she is healed.”
Fourteen members of the religious group, including Elizabeth's mum and dad, were found guilty of manslaughter, with all pleading not guilty.
Judge Martin Burns said: “Not subject to “There is no doubt that Elizabeth was lovingly cared for in almost every way. However, because of her special faith in the healing power of God […] she was deprived of the one thing that would have certainly kept her alive.”
14 The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced next month, and if found guilty, each faces a maximum sentence of life in prison.
Recall that the 154-kilogram woman layed on top of her adopted 10-year-old son to punish him, resulting in the boy's death. The American woman received a six-year sentence.
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