A Baby Kept On A Vegan Diet Died. His Parents Have Been Arrested On A Manslaughter Charge.

The parents of an 18-month-old boy who died in September from malnourishment have been arrested by Florida police on charges of manslaughter and child neglect.

On Sept. 27, around 4 a.m., Sheila O’Leary nursed the child briefly and, she told authorities, became worried when he began breathing shallowly, the Florida Fort Myers News-Press reported. Rather than call for help, though, the O’Learys went to sleep.

The paramedics who responded to a 911 call later that day pronounced the boy dead at the Cape Coral, Florida, home; he weighed just 17 pounds when he died, according to police reports, significantly under the average weight for a child his age, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Sheila and Ryan O’Leary told investigators that the vegan family only eats fruit, vegetables and raw foods, such as mangoes, rambutans, bananas and avocados, according to the News-Press. The parents supplemented the toddler’s diet with breast milk.

The child, who was home-birthed had never seen a doctor.

South Carolina GOP primary will end in replacement nominee for late Sen. Lindsey Graham

Breaking: DHS Identifies 278,000 Foreigners Illegally Registered to Vote in Federal Elections

‘Shadow government’: Trump claims intel community bragged about hiding Chinese meddling

Trump releases declassified election intelligence, says it reveals ‘shocking vulnerabilities’

Video shows Canadian illegal alien slapping teen over Trump, ICE clothing: DHS

EXCLUSIVE: DHS seeks custody of illegal immigrant charged with murder after Trump deportation, Biden release

New York Democrat Pat Ryan pledges to refund AIPAC money. It could cost him $790,000

College student’s fatal canoe trip takes turn after lone survivor is arrested months later

Fetterman Draws a Red Line on What Would Cause Him to Quit the Democratic Party

White House addresses growing parasite outbreak after more than 400 Americans sickened

More than a quarter-million noncitizens may be registered to vote in 4 key states, DHS alleges

Retiring GOP Sen. Tillis Vows to Block SAVE America Act Any Way He Can: ‘I Will Use Every Device’

‘A Disgrace’: White House Teleprompter Operator Placed on Leave After Alleged Scheme Uncovered

Nine Venezuelans plead guilty in Nashville sex trafficking scheme that lured migrant women with fake jobs: DOJ

Secret Service says ‘we have to’ remove swords from statues near White House

The couple turned themselves in to authorities on Nov. 6, after the medical examiner’s office released its autopsy findings: the cause of death was malnutrition and complications, including dehydration, microsteatosis of liver, and swollen hands, feet and lower legs.

They were booked at the Lee County jail on charges of felony manslaughter and child neglect. Bond was set for both at $250,000, and an arraignment is scheduled for Dec. 9.

In a statement on his law firm’s website, attorney John Musca, who is representing the 35-year-old mother, called the boy’s death “tragic.”

The toddler, he said, had been “struggling with illness for the past six months, making it difficult for him to eat. The mother said that the little boy began to recuperate, but then started teething, causing him to have new struggles with eating.”

No attorney was listed for Ryan O’Leary, who is 30, in the Lee County jail records.

The O’Learys have two other children together, ages 3 and 5, whom police saw at their residence in September. One had blackened and decaying teeth, the News-Press reported, at both were extremely malnourished, weighing under the third percentile for their age groups.

According to the probable cause statement, Sheila O’Leary told police her children were all home-schooled, though law enforcement could not find records of them actively enrolled in a home-school program.