They SHOULD have gotten life; their daughter DIDN'T!

Hopefully these parents get what they deserve!

This is a tragedy. How could any parent sit by and actually watch their daughter die?!

I read they were offered help by their neighbors and they declined it!!!

Horrible!

This was not endangerment this was MURDER! How long had they gone without giving her an insulin shot? I am type 1 and have been since I was 6. My parents never withheld insulin nor did my numbers get out of control even when I was ill. A 17 year old will be able to take care of her needs fairly well. Sounds like she did not have access to her insulin or testing supplies. I wonder if her parents felt the supplies were too expensive. Either way, murder. If people don't want their children then they need to give them up so they can live with someone who will love them and take care of them!

Stupidity, neglect and a 'non-caring' attitude is not only attributed to these two adults, but seems to be symptomatic in our society today. The parents haven't learned and their parents never taught them. The over-all mind set of the authorities is that parents are never interfered with. The schools aren't responsible for the welfare of the children while they're at home. Responsibility is pushed off by every side. No wonder our society, government and morals are warped and the worst thing is that the family unit has broken down and the situation is getting worse.

when I was much younger my family Dr was ask about the power of prayer and said it is like chicken soup but to remember that God is also in favor of Doctors too

I feel better that the parents were not ignorant illegal Latino immigrants that didn't speak English.

The girl had Type 1 diabetes which required her to take insulin, prosecutors said. The girl went into cardiac arrest en route to the hospital where doctors found her blood glucose level to be 1295, more than twice the level at which someone could go into a diabetic coma.

Being a Type 1 diabetic myself when first diagnosed 21 years ago, my blood sugar was over 1500. My wife has saved my life several times but I find it hard to believe that criminal charges were brought. It is a very challenging disease and I wonder if the family had Health Insurance coverage...?

Each faces 15 years to life in prison. They are scheduled to be sentenced on April 30.

Unlike the article that MSN has, this link delves deeper into what happened.

http://www.mydesert.com/article/20100322/NEWS0802/100322033/Cabazon-couple-could-face-15-years-to-life-in-daughter-s-death

After reading the article in the link above, they should have been convicted of first degree murder with special circumstances.

How could these parent not take care of their daughter especially if she had Type 1 diabetes? She had an episode 5 years prior and the parents were told what to look out for but they did nothing in the end.

I feel for the other two children because they lost their sister and, because of what their parents did, they lost them too.

Rixar..the girl was sick for several days. This wasn't a freak accident where her level shot up and she just died. Even if they didn't have insurance, they darned well should have gotten her to the hospital, the neighbor even offered to drive them there, instead of letting the girl lie there. Even if it had been a case of the flu, like the parents were saying, that sick...no way they should have denied her professional care.

This is an unbelievable story. Each time I read something like this I can't imagine what people are thinking..we are talking about their own CHILD.

I wouldn't refer to them as parents! Parents take care of their children.

[[This was not endangerment this was MURDER!]]

I am afraid that a murder charge requires intent, which these idiots didn't have. There is a legal adage that hard cases make bad law, and it especially needs to be remembered in situations like this.

It sounds as if they had just given up on her. I don't believe she HAD any insulin in her & certainly no food-retired nurse.

She suffered from keosodis. Your body produces insulin. If your body isn't producing insulin you become diabetic. Therefore you need the insulin so your body can function. So even in starvation her body tried to produce the natural insulin our bodies are supposed to function. She was not able to produce it so therefore she went into diabetic coma. Ketocidosis means dangerously high levels of ketones. Ketones are acids that build up in the blood. They appear in the urine when your body doesn't have enough insulin. Ketones can poison the body. They are a warning sign that your diabetes is out of control or that you are getting sick.

It's sad that she wasn't given the care she deserved. I hope they spend the next 15 years in tortue knowing that they prevented a life. Knowing that they could have saved their daughter. I remember this story earlier. They believed in faith healing. I am religious and believe in power of prayer but God gives us doctors for a reason. To help us. They had already lost a grandchild or another child I believe because of the insane thoughts. God doesn't want his children to suffer because of our stupidity.

Just to let you know: Imagine a guy sitting right near table overloaded with foods with his hands tied and his mouth taped over. After some time the poor guy will, of course, starve to his death. That's how it is in diabetes.

Sugar is the main source of energy in human body but in order to make this energy, it needs to get into cells. Human body can make a lot of sugar even if person eats nothing at all - that's why people can survive for weeks without food - but if there's no insulin to get the sugar into cells, then the sugar just sits in blood. That is bad for many reasons, and, if there's no way to get some insulin into the sysytem, the blood eventually becomes a sort of syrup while every cell in the body is starving for energy. Also, very high blood sugar causes weakness, vomiting and loss of appetite, so patients will starve even more if left without treatment.

Your body has sugar stores, and can actually create glucose on it's own; if you can't take up any glucose from the blood (which is the function of insulin) glucose just keeps building up and building up, yo ujsut can't use it. The fact she was "starving" doesn't mean she doens't have glucose in her blood. She was also ketotoic. Ketones are a breakdown products of fat; if the body can't get any glucose as an energy source, it begins to break down fat, the end product of which can be used by most body systems (not the brain, however). The other breakdown product of fat are ketones, which are acidic and lead to a dangerous drop in body pH.

Opps I am confusing my stories. The one above I mentined just happened as well. This is just another example of bad parenting and where was someone to step in?

http://www.oregonlive.com/clackamascounty/index.ssf/2010/03/jeffrey_and_marci_beagley_sent.html

Exactly! I bet you anything her diet was just horrible as well. More and more cases like this are being discovered and it's truly sickening. As the poor, uneducated stupid people start to proliferate our American society, we'll see more and more cases like this. And guess who is supplementing these people? The hard working, (actual!) taxpaying responsible people.

See the link in post #1.9. What it details will shock you.

That's because the world is going down the drain. And, besides bad news sells better than good news.

Stories like this didn't used to make the national news, but now they do. It isn't that things are actually getting worse. It's like all the kidnapping stories when in reality, only about 100 children are kidnapped by a stranger each year. Yet, because of the publicity, we have totally destroyed childhood. I just hope this story doesn't give more power to an already out of control CPS system. Kids die in foster care, too.

When the inmates in prison find out that their crimes were against their own daughter, they will have no pity. If you hurt or kill a child, you're the worst of the worst in prison. Even inmates that murder adults don't take kindly to anyone molesting or killing a child. They will have to watch their backs for as long as the live.

They are still given their insulin too...

This is from the link provided in #1.9.

Over a five-day span, the teen went from having trouble walking to being unable to eat, communicate, sit upright or open her eyes, according to trial testimony. Her two younger sisters testified that the victim eventually lapsed into unconsciousness and labored to breathe.

Strunsky said two neighbors told the Lathams their daughter needed medical attention, and one volunteered to take her to the hospital. But the couple dismissed their concerns, according to the prosecutor.

He said there was no excuse for the defendants' inaction, given that barely five years before, Nanette had suffered a similar episode and was rushed to a Moreno Valley hospital, where she spent several days recuperating.

At that time, Strunsky said, the Lathams were given discharge instructions and verbally warned about how to spot signs that their daughter might be suffering from diabetic ketoacidosis and not to delay seeking medical attention for her.

As Nanette began to slip away, Gregory Latham sat idly by, drinking beer, while her mother also seemed indifferent, Strunsky said.

. . .

Deputy Public Defender O.G. Magno said Gregory Latham, himself a diabetic, thought he knew how to treat his daughter but was ill-prepared because of his ``limited intellectual ability.''

“This is a difficult disease with difficult symptoms,” Magno told jurors. “Sitting through this trial, you know more about diabetes than he does.”

The attorney said his client “did what he could with what he had” and tried to administer insulin shots to his daughter and keep her hydrated.

Magno said the parents were given a pamphlet and an audio cassette instructing them on the steps to monitor and assist a type 1 diabetic. But nowhere in the materials was there any reference to ``sick day protocol,'' which could have proved beneficial, he said.

“These records show you what they do not know,” the attorney said. Both Magno and Victor Marshall, Yvonne Latham's attorney, stressed that the defendants loved their daughter, who was self-reliant and somewhat “controlling.”

“Nanette ran things,” said Marshall. “She did not want to go the hospital. They knew she could monitor herself.”

I don't if you weren't given how to deal a diabetic person when they are sick. That can be researched and read about.

Nanette's parents should have been more forceful. She was only 17 years old. She was a minor so therefore her parents should have seized control and gotten her to the hospital a lot sooner. They should have done things a lot differently but they didn't. And now they, and their other two children, are paying the price.

Ashamed,

I agree the story of "They did not know.." is BS.. I am a type 2 diabetic, different admittedly from the young woman's condition, however my Dr. INSISTS on seeing me 4 times a year to check my A1C (long term glucose) number. Now I don't know about CA, but when I was 17, I had to rely on my parents to drive me to the Doctor's office. Any competent Dr should have pulled the mother into the office if he saw her fasting numbers or her A1C numbers off the charts. Couple this with the fact that the girl had already had an incident, and the parents were told what to watch for they don't have a leg to stand on...

What is sad about California is that, if my kids need lab work or anything, I, as their mother, have to sign a form even if my daughter wants her ears pierced. But, if my daughter were to get pregnant, she could get an abortion without my knowing it. How screwed up is that?!

Huh? They may eventually be released. How could it possibly be a good thing if they get no mental health help? Are you for real?

I agree they should have included the religious fervor of this couple as they have in other stories. This child wasn't given insulin because her parents didn't take her to the doctor, didn't know she was diabetic and spent days praying over her. In previous stories about this child they mentioned that and it should have been included in this one.

Dave....I think it's rather clear; Type 1 is extremely expensive and given the "squalor" they live in it doesn't take a genius to figure out they couldn't afford to have a child with diabetes. Sounds cold and cruel but unfortunately that's the world we live in now. Casey Anthony is a perfect example.

FW - No where in the story does it say they didn't know she was diabetic. As a matter of fact, the article says she had a similar episode 5 years ago and they (parents) were given all kinds of instructions, including pamphlets, explaining the disease and what needs to be done!!

Which wouldn't help much if they can't read.

At 17 wouldn't you take care of your own diabetes stuff? Was there something else wrong with this girl?

You would only take care of it yourself if you are taught correctly and have the supplies to do it. It sounds like they were living in squalor. A diabetic diet is different than a normal diet.

Also, if she was in a hazy state from out of control glucose levels as the article said, then she was not in the right frame of mind to handle her own injections and eating. She might have been wearing a diaper because she couldn't get up and use the bathroom on her own. When someone's glucose is so out of control, it can cause them to feel dizzy and delirious. After days of it being out of control, I think the feeling would be compounded. A 1295 blood sugar is super high for anyone.

Wouldn't you seek medical attention long before you put a diaper on someone (over the age of like 3)? That's far from normal.

Yes, and I think that's the point. Rather than get her medical help, they put a diaper on her and left her in the bed to die. No food, no sustenance for days.