Trial opens for couple accused of killing their baby with unconventional diet of uncooked organic foods and juices made from wheatgrass, almonds and coconuts.

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Trial opens for couple accused of killing their baby with unconventional

diet*

By Emanuella Grinberg

Court TV

Updated Oct. 20, 2005, 8:07 p.m. ET

 

*MIAMI* — A 6-month-old infant seemed more like a newborn when paramedics

found her gasping for air on the floor of her parents' home, an emergency

responder testified Tuesday in the manslaughter trial of the child's

parents.

 

Paramedic Fernando Castano told jurors in the case against Joseph and Lamoy

Andressohn that he mistook their 7-pound, 22-inch child for a newborn as he

attempted to revive her.

 

Woyah died about 45 minutes later from what a medical examiner later

diagnosed as " accidental malnutrition, " according to Castano.

 

By their own admission to police, the couple kept their five children on a

strict diet of uncooked organic foods and juices made from wheatgrass,

almonds and coconuts.

 

During a lunch break in Miami-Dade Criminal Court, the couple snacked on

nuts and grains wrapped in leaves of kale, with an apple on the side.

 

The couple faces 50 years in prison on manslaughter and child endangerment

charges if convicted.

 

Castano responded to the home after Joseph Andressohn called to report that

his youngest daughter had stopped breathing, seemingly without cause, on May

14, 2003.

 

Despite his best efforts, Castano said he knew death was " imminent " for

Woyah, who was without a pulse or blood pressure by the time authorities

arrived at the scene.

 

Miami-Dade County Assistant State Attorney Herbert Walker told the jury that

Woyah died because of the reckless negligence of her parents, who ignored

obvious warning signs as the newborn child wasted away to " a bag of skin and

bones " before her death.

 

" A growing child such as baby Woyah needs nutrients to grow, " said Walker,

himself a raw-food vegan. " At the end of her life, and a painful life it

was, the child had practically lost all her subcutaneous fat and her body

was going through auto-cannibalism because she was not getting enough

nutrients. "

 

The Andressohns are also standing trial on counts related to Woyah's four

older siblings, who, like her, were found to be smaller than 99 percent of

other children their ages, Walker said.

 

" The question is, did the parents provide the care necessary for the

well-being of their five children? " said the prosecutor, dressed in a

fuchsia tie with a matching handkerchief in his jacket pocket.

 

Lawyers for the defense, however, blamed Woyah's death on unrelated

congenital diseases that they claimed would have taken her life regardless

of her diet.

 

" This child was doomed from birth, " said Ellis Rubin, a lawyer for Lamoy

Andressohn, 30, as the couple sat quietly, holding hands.

 

Rubin suggested that a fungal infection similar to acid reflux wore away at

Woyah's esophagus and lungs before the parents were able to take notice and

seek aid.

 

" The baby was not able to fight it off. It didn't matter what the diet was.

She would gave died regardless, " Rubin said.

 

In his turn, a lawyer for Joseph Andressohn, 36, blasted the police for

rushing to judgment and denying the couple a chance to grieve after Woyah

and their four other children were taken from them.

 

" The evidence will show this case is about misinterpretation, misinformation

and misdiagnosis from day one, " defense lawyer Robert Barrar said.

 

He echoed his colleague's statement that not even the medical examiner that

performed the autopsy was able to determine a manner of death and suggested

that input from the state attorney's office colored his diagnosis.

 

" The evidence will also show that the medical examiner was spoken to and

pressured by the assistant state attorney's office to classify this as a

homicide, " Barrar said.

 

The Andressohns' two oldest sons will testify about the " living foods

lifestyle " that their parents imposed upon each of them from birth.

 

The boys, now 7 and 9 and living with a relative, told police in interviews

that they were fed a steady diet of uncooked organic foods and cleansed with

wheatgrass enemas in lieu of attending doctors.

 

The Andressohns also admitted that they took their children's care into

their own hands, delivering them at home and home-schooling them with the

permission of the state.

 

" Joseph and Lamoy were poor folks who spent a high percent of their money on

food, food they reasonably believed was the healthiest for the children, "

Barrar said. " Joseph and Lamoy did what they thought was best for their

children. "

 

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