Parents of new born convicted of reckless homicide

May 15 2005

A newborn baby girl died unnecessarily because her parents rejected medical intervention for their ailing daughter.

The couple who belong to a church that advocates prayer and faith healing over medical intervention, chose prayer as the only treatment, and were convicted this week by a Johnson Superior Court jury of reckless homicide.

Dewayne and Maleta Schmidt, whose daughter Rhiana Rose Schmidt, became ill after she was born at home, and rather than call for a doctor's help, prosecutors said, the parents called church elders to their home to pray for the child. The baby died less than two days later.

An autopsy found that the infant died of puerperal sepsis, an infection acquired at birth and typically treated by antibiotics.

The Schmidts could each face two to eight years in prison. Prosecutors are apparently intending to seek the longer penalty.