The sentencing of a Florida vegan mother who starved her 18-month-old son to death was postponed for a second time Monday.
Sheila O’Leary, 38, was scheduled to learn her fate Monday after an earlier delay, but her sentencing was postponed again until Aug. 15 in Lee County. She faces life in prison.
On June 28, O’Leary, whose family followed a strict vegan diet, was found guilty of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, aggravated manslaughter, child abuse and two counts of child neglect in the death of Ezra O’Leary in 2019
The toddler weighed just 17 kilograms – seven kilograms below the average for a child his age – when his parents noticed he had stopped breathing in September 2019.
An autopsy determined that little Ezra died of complications from malnutrition.
Ezra’s father, Ryan Patrick O’Leary, 33, will stand trial on some of the same charges as his wife later this month.
Last week, the father was charged with additional charges of sexual assault on a victim under 12 and lewd and lascivious behavior on a victim under 12.
Sheila O’Leary was found guilty in late June of first-degree murder, aggravated child abuse, manslaughter, child abuse and child neglect in the 2019 death of toddler Ezra. AP
Sheila O’Leary was originally scheduled to be sentenced on July 25, but that hearing was postponed because a pre-sentence report from the State Department of Corrections and a motion for a new trial had yet to be prepared.
Lee Hollander, O’Leary’s defense attorney, told the News-Press on Monday that he did not know why the sentencing had been delayed again, but said he assumed the pre-sentence report had not yet been completed.
Investigators said the couple told them the family only ate raw fruits and vegetables, although the toddler was also breastfed, a police report said.
“This child is not eating. He starved to death for 18 months,” Francine Donorumo, chief of the Lee County State’s Attorney’s Office Special Victims Unit, said during the trial.
Prosecutors said Sheila O’Leary followed the death a strict vegan and fed her children raw fruits and vegetables. Lee County Sheriff Ryan Patrick O’Leary, 33, is facing trial on some of the same charges as his wife, including child sexual abuse and harassment counts. Lee County Sheriff’s Office
Prosecutors accused the mother of failing to seek proper medical attention for her son when she realized he was ill.
“She chose to ignore his screams,” Assistant State’s Attorney Sarah Miller said during closing arguments. “He didn’t need a scale to see his bones. She didn’t need a scale to hear his call.
The O’Learys have two other children, ages 3 and 5, who were also malnourished, investigators said. A fourth child was returned to her biological father during an earlier malnutrition case in Virginia, court records show.
Sheila’s lawyer showed photos of the mother with one of her children during the trial, trying to show she never intended to hurt them.
Sheila O’Leary, right, is due back in court in Lee County, Fla., on Aug. 15. AP
“Does this look like a mother who wants to kill her child?” Hollander said. “Just because it happened doesn’t mean she committed a crime.
Hollander has asked for a new trial, saying “mistakes” led to her conviction. If that request is granted, she said she wants a new lawyer, telling the judge in July that her lawyer was not representing her the way she wants.
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