The jury in the trial of Jeromie and Jennifer Clark has reached a verdict on charges related to the death of the couple's son.
The Clarks, 41-year-old Jennifer and 38-year-old Jeromie, have been found guilty of criminal negligence causing death and failure to provide the necessaries of life in connection with the death of their 14-month-old son John in November 2013. The jury deliberated for approximately six hours before making its decision.
John Clark arrived at the Foothills Medical Centre on November 28, 2013 and was immediately transported to the Alberta Children’s Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries the following day. During his brief time in hospital, he suffered seizures and two cardiac arrests.
According to Crown prosecutor Shane Parker, the young boy was in septic stock and suffering from a staph infection and multiple organ failures. “He was extremely hypothermic," said Parker. "His heart rate had gone down to an extremely dangerous level, four of his toes had turned gangrene or turned black. He had a rash covering 70 percent of his body. He was lethargic and, in the words of the early medical personnel, they thought he was lifeless.”
“Their prognosis was that if he hadn't received medical care at that time he was going to die.”
The Office of the Medical Examiner determined John Clark's death was the result of malnutrition and sepsis.
"John would have been in Grade 1 and would have just celebrated his sixth birthday in September,” said Parker. “There is a young boy who the community lost and that being John Wyatt Clark.”
Parker credits the jury for hearing such a tough case. “A lot of complicated medical evidence, a complicated area of the law, so it was a tough charge to work towards.”
The Clarks are expected to be sentenced in 2019.
