Wisconsin prayer death trial goes to jury
Robert ImrieA jury on Friday began deliberating the case of a woman charged with killing her daughter by praying while the sick girl died instead of seeking medical help for her.
During closing arguments, prosecutors portrayed Leilani Neumann as a religious zealot who ignored her daughter Kara's symptoms of untreated diabetes and let the girl die as a test of faith.
"Religious extremism can be dangerous," Marathon County District Attorney Jill Falstad said. "In this case, it was fatal. Basic medical care would have saved Kara's life — fluids and insulin. There was plenty of time to save Kara's life."
Defense attorney Gene Linehan countered, saying Neumann didn't realize her daughter was so ill and did all she could do to help, in line with the family's belief in faith-healing.
He said Neumann was a devout Christian who prays about everything and took good care of her four children.
"Religious extremism is a Muslim terrorist," Linehan said. "They are saying these parents were so far off the scale that they murdered their child. The woman did everything she could to help her. That is the injustice in this case."
Neumann, 41, is charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the March 23, 2008, death of her daughter from untreated diabetes at the family's rural Weston home.
Neumann and her husband clutched each other and silently prayed with another man before the jury took the case. Then she went to each of her other children sitting on a front-row courtroom bench and kissed them on the cheek.
The maximum punishment for second-degree reckless homicide in 25 years in prison.
Madeline's father, Dale Neumann, faces the same charge and is scheduled to stand trial in July.