Sentencing the Schmidts in Faith-Healing Case



By Michael W. Hoskins
Daily Journal Staff Writer
August 13, 2005

When I covered the sentencing of Dewayne and Maleta Schmidt for the Daily Journal in August 2005, I reported on how a county judge sentenced each parent to six years with four years suspended for reckless homicide in the faith-healing death of their newborn daughter, Rhianna Rose.

Rather than sending them to prison, the judge ordered two years of staggered work-release — allowing Dewayne to keep his engineering job at KYB Manufacturing and Maleta to care for their other children.

The sentences also included four years of probation, mandatory first-aid courses, and ongoing child welfare monitoring for their other two kids.

In my coverage, I balanced the immediate details of the courtroom outcome with a broader enterprise look at the legal crossroads of faith-healing cases, capturing both the judge's stern message that parents must be held legally responsible for medical care and the complex realities of a family navigating tragedy and the courts.

Daily Journal newspaper coverage by Michael W. Hoskins

Tags
Previous Post Next Post