Child dies, siblings hospitalized after 'alkaline diet,' parents charged [View all]
An Arizona couple faces possible prison time after parenting practices shaped by online misinformation about medical care and nutrition left a 5-month-old child dead and three others suffering from chronic malnutrition, according to police and court records.
Police found Tremaure Stanley, 25, and Janiece Brooks, 26, living in a central Phoenix home where their youngest child was discovered dead in July 2023 after Brooks called 911 because their baby was unresponsive.
Three surviving siblings, ages 2, 4 and 5 at the time, were subsequently hospitalized with rickets, osteopenia, vitamin D deficiency and significant developmental delays, court records show.
The couple was charged with first-degree murder and four counts of child abuse. They met with prosecutors Dec. 1 to discuss a possible plea deal.
Prosecutors said the pattern of harm traces back to an extreme version of the "alkaline diet" the couple imposed on their children, combined with a growing distrust of medical care. For these children, that meant eating mostly vegetables, fruit and plant-based milks, with almost no protein, fats or fortified foods. It was a diet so low in calories and nutrients that doctors who examined the children said it led to severe malnutrition and vitamin deficiencies.
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2025/12/08/arizona-parents-charged-child-death-alkaline-diet/87669909007/?tbref=hp
People who rely on the internet for their own diet advice are crazy at best; if they impose it on their children, they are CRIMINAL
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