A sentencing hearing for a Calgary couple who were found guilty in the death of their 14-month-old son in November 2013 began on Friday.
Last fall, Jennifer and Jeromie Clark were found guilty of criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessaries of life in the death of their young son John.
During the trial, the Crown told the jury that the boy was in septic stock and suffering from a staph infection and multiple organ failures.
According to a pathology report, the boy was malnourished and died from a staph infection.
At the time of his death, John weighed less than nine kilograms (20 pounds), had an inflamed rash covering the majority of his body and he had blackened toes.
Jurors were shown online searches for natural remedies for gangrene, which included cabbage leaves and cayenne.
The defence suggested that doctors at Alberta Children's Hospital were to blame because they raised the boy's sodium and fluid levels too aggressively.
The couple spoke at their sentencing hearing on Friday and reflected on the memory of their son.
Jennifer, 42, told the court that she often breaks down in tears and Jeromie, 38, talked about the kind of man their son would have been.
“I feel such deep sorrow and loss,” she said. ‘When death took Johnny and I had the realization it was permanent, I can’t describe the emptiness I felt inside.”
“I can never get over the fact John doesn’t get to be a man and he doesn’t get to be a teenager, riding around on a bike with his friends,” said Jeromie. “I think about the birthdays and Christmas’. I wonder how he would be. I feel such grief and such remorse.”
Neither acknowledged that they could have prevented the boy’s death.
The couple was supported in the courtroom by David Stephan. Stephan and his wife are facing a re-trial in the dead of their young son from meningitis in 2012.
A pre-sentence report now needs to be ordered and the case will be back in court on February 22 to determine when the sentencing hearing will continue.
(With files from Ina Sidhu)
