Starved girl taken off life-support dies
Parents to appear at bail hearing this afternoon
CBC News
Posted: Sep 21, 2012 7:27 AM ET
Last Updated: Sep 22, 2012 12:20 PM ET
A two-year-old Alberta girl allegedly abused by her parents died in an Edmonton hospital after being taken off life support.
The child, who can only be identified as "M," died Thursday night after her ventilator was removed.
She had been in a coma since being brought to hospital in May.
Her parents, who cannot be named, have been charged with beating and starving the girl and are currently being held in custody.
They are scheduled to appear at bail hearing this afternoon.
On Wednesday, the Alberta Court of Appeal upheld a lower court ruling that ordered the girl be taken off life-support as soon as "reasonably possible."
The court also refused to grant a stay of the order pending an appeal to the Supreme Court, stating there were no grounds to take the case to Canada's top court.
On Thursday, April Kellett, the lawyer acting on behalf of the child's mother, filed a motion with the Supreme Court of Canada to keep the girl on life-support .
The Supreme Court dismissed that motion.
Previously, the girl's doctors said she was highly unlikely to survive once taken off life-support.
Child found starving, in cardiac arrest
Paramedics were called to the family's home in May where they found the child with a head injury and in cardiac arrest.
Both the girl and her twin sister were severely malnourished.
While her sister is recovering, doctors said M's brain damage was so severe that she would never regain consciousness.
The child's parents are being held in jail, facing charges of aggravated assault, criminal negligence causing bodily harm and failing to provide the necessities of life.
None of those allegations has been proven in court.
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