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Summary: As a member of the Church of the Firstborn, "We just believe that prayer works," the boy's mother told police. "I didn't want to be weak in my faith and disappoint God," she said.
[25 May 2012] - A woman on trial for manslaughter in the death of her ailing nine-year-old son told Broken Arrow police that "I felt like God would heal him." In an audio-recorded interview, Susan Grady indicated that she relied on prayer for nine-year-old Aaron Grady, whose June 5, 2009, death at the family's Broken Arrow apartment was caused by complications of diabetes, a medical examiner ruled. As a member of the Church of the Firstborn, "We just believe that prayer works," Grady told police. "I didn't want to be weak in my faith and disappoint God," she said. "I don't believe what I did, with the way I believe, was wrong," she told police in 2009. "I try to have faith and do what I feel is right." Grady, 43, is charged with second-degree manslaughter. Prosecutors allege that she acted negligently toward Aaron between June 2 and June 5, 2009, by not seeking medical treatment for him, allowing his medical condition to become increasingly worse. There has been testimony that Aaron's weight dropped from 68 pounds on April 28, 2009, to 52 pounds on the day he died. Dr. Michael Baxter, a pediatrician who reviewed medical records in the case, indicated that a 16-pound drop in a boy that size over that time span, and without medical attention being sought, indicated that Aaron "suffered from child neglect." Aaron's weight went from average to "off the charts," Baxter testified Thursday. Evidence indicated that Aaron went to two different doctor's offices in April 2009. Regarding those trips and her reliance on faith, "I don't feel like that's healing," Grady told police in the interview. Grady said Aaron had slept on a couch, and never got off the couch, on the day he died. Family members from Indiana had traveled to Oklahoma. She said on that day, she knew "he was pretty sick." Aaron "stopped breathing,' and people who had gathered at the apartment prayed, according to Grady's statement. "We just believe prayer works," she said. Second-degree manslaughter involves "culpable negligence" - an omission to do something that a reasonably careful person would do, or failure to use ordinary care and caution in the performance of an act usually and ordinarily exercised by a person under similar circumstances and conditions. The maximum sentence for second-degree manslaughter is four years in prison. Testimony resumes Friday in Tulsa County District Judge William Kellough's court. Further Information:
Owner: Bill Braunpdf: http://www.tulsaworld.com/news/article.aspx?subjectid=14&articleid=20120...