WESTON, Wis. — A Wisconsin mother and father have been charged with second-degree reckless homicide after their 11-year-old daughter died of untreated diabetes when they prayed for her but did not take her to a doctor.
Dale and Leilani Neumann of Weston, Wis., were charged April 28 in the March 23 death of their daughter, Madeline Neumann. They face 25 years each in prison if convicted.
"It was very surprising, shocking that she wasn’t allowed medical intervention," said Jill Falstad, district attorney of Marathon County, Wis. "Her death could have been prevented."
Although friends and family had urged the couple to get medical assistance for their daughter, her mother didn’t consider it because she thought the child was under a "spiritual attack" and the father called the illness "a test of faith," said the criminal complaint.
Madeline, who was called Kara by her parents, died on Easter in their rural home. Her parents were told her body would be taken the next day to Madison for an autopsy.
"They responded, ‘You won’t need to do that. She will be alive by then,’" the medical examiner wrote in a report.
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