A vegan mother has been found guilty of starving her 18-month-old son to death by feeding him raw vegetables and fruit. Sheila O’Leary, 39, was convicted of murder by a jury Wednesday in connection with child abuse charges she faced in the September 2019 death of her toddler Ezra O’Leary, according to the Fort Myers News Press. Ezra weighed just 17 kilograms, seven kilograms less than the average for his age, when his parents discovered he had stopped breathing. “This child was not eating. He starved to death for 18 months,” said Francine Donnorummo, head of the special victims unit at the district attorney’s office. Sheila O’Leary was convicted of murder by a jury on Wednesday (Image: PA Images) Sheila and her husband, Ryan O’Leary, told officers that Ezra had a strict vegan diet but was also breastfed. Ezra hadn’t eaten for about a week before he died and had trouble sleeping, they said. “She made choices that killed her child,” Donnorummo said. “Her pride cost Ezra his life. It is a reckless disregard for human life.’ An autopsy report found that Ezra died of complications related to malnutrition. The toddler’s father Ryan Patrick O’Leary is scheduled to stand trial on the same charges his wife faced (Image: PA Images) Prosecutors accused Sheila of not seeking medical attention for Ezra when she realized he was sick. “He chose to ignore his screams,” Assistant District Attorney Sarah Miller, who prosecuted the case, said during closing arguments. “He didn’t need a scale to see his bones. He didn’t need a scale to hear his cry.’ When Ezra died, the O’Learys were also neglecting their three other children, who are under the age of 11, according to prosecutors. “We’re here because their children were starving so much that the little ones starved to death,” Miller said. Sheila, of Cape Coral, has a sentencing hearing set for July 25. Ryan, who is in the Lee County Jail, is set to stand trial on the same charges Sheila faced. Contact our news team by emailing us at [email protected] For more stories like this, check out our news page.
