Parents of boy in meningitis death planning high court challenge of conviction
CALGARY — A father convicted in the meningitis death of his toddler says he and his wife will stay out on bail while they take their appeal to Canada’s top court.
David Stephan and his wife, Collet, were both found guilty last year of failing to provide the necessaries of life in their son Ezekiel’s 2012 death.
Their trial in Lethbridge, Alta., heard they treated the 19-month-old boy with garlic, onion and horseradish rather than taking him to a doctor. The Stephans eventually called 911 but the little boy died in hospital.
The three-member Alberta Court of Appeal upheld the conviction last week but because the ruling wasn’t unanimous, the couple has an automatic right to have the Supreme Court hear arguments in the case.