WAUSAU, Wis. – Prosecutors in the homicide trial of a Wisconsin mother accused of praying instead of seeking medical attention for her diabetic daughter say the girl suffered and died needlessly.
Assistant District Attorney LaMont Jacobson said in opening statements Saturday that the case isn’t about religion, but about 11-year-old Madeline Neumann’s “needless suffering and death.”
Authorities say 41-year-old Leilani Neumann of Weston and her husband Dale believed the girl’s illness was a “test of faith.” They’re charged with second-degree reckless homicide in the 2008 death.
An autopsy found Madeline died from undiagnosed diabetes, which meant she had too little insulin.
If convicted, Neumann faces up to 25 years in prison.
