Baby Starved

Having a child is a happy moment in time for most people. Jade Sanders and Lamont Thomas of Atlanta say that this moment of a at home birth to their son Crown Shakur was just that. They also say that the short 6 week life of their son was a happy one.

Jade and Lamont were sentenced to life in prison on May 9^th after being found guilty by a jury that deliberated for about 7 hours. The couple admitted to only feeding their son a diet of soy milk and apple juice due to their vegan lifestyle. The couple says that they did not realize that their son was in any danger and did not take him to a doctor when he started to loose weight. They continue to say that they did not realize that their son needed medical attention until a couple of minutes before his death.

Prosecutor Chuck Boring said it best when he stated "No matter how many times they want to say, 'We're vegans, we're vegetarians,' that's not the issue in this case," "The child died because he was not fed. Period."

After the death of their son Crown, Jade and Lamont knowing that their life sentences were a moment away, they still found the time to think of themselves. To think of themselves instead of a life that is no longer being lived. They actually asked Superior Court Judge L.A. McConnell to be lenient on their sentences. The couple also complained that when Judge McConnell told them they could ask for a new trail by saying "I'm dying every day in there, and that could take three years."

Three years to appeal their case and get a new trail is not a long time compared to the life of their son Crown Shakur that did not ask to be brought into the world, who did not ask to be starved to death so his parents could adhere to their vegan lifestyle.

Crown most certainly could not tell his parents he was hungry or that he was hurting. As first time parents or parents with 10 kids, you well know when your child is hungry and if they are hurting. The fact that he was loosing weight rapidly should have been a clue that something was wrong and he should have at that point been taken to a doctor immediately.

That leads into a few questions that I have not seen reported about this case yet. Were Jade and Lamont afraid to take their son to a doctor when they realized he was loosing weight? Were they afraid that if they took him to a doctor that he would have been ripped away from them? Were they just content to sit and watch the life they created whither away? Was there no other family that realized that this poor child needed medical attention? Was there any attempt at all to get medical attention in some way or fashion from the rest of the family? At any point and time in the short 6 week life of this baby was there not a doctor that checked on him? Perhaps a mid-wife that came to check on Jade and the baby that could have seen something was wrong?

I am highly interested in following this case. It pains me to no end to see how some people treat their children. How can someone say they care so much, but then do nothing to help their child when it is obvious that help is needed?

"I loved my son - and I did not starve him." Those are the words of Crown's mother. I once again ask how could you not know that you were slowly killing your child by starvation? I for one hope upon hope that Jade and Lamont have the rest of their lives to sit in tiny cells to think of their son and the life he will never have. I hope that there is a picture of that precious child staring them in the face every time they go sleep and every time they wake up. If they spend the next 3 years with appeals and get a new trail I hope the outcome is the same as it was on the 9^th of May.

The best punishment regardless of supposed love is to have to sit day in and day out thinking of what they did, and what will never be no matter how hard they pray and wish. They will always know that they killed their son and they have no one but themselves to blame.