faith in god ends in childs death | godfree110158's Blog

Ava Worthington died from a preventable chain of events that left her too weak to fight the infections that filled her small body, said Dr. Christopher Young, the deputy state medical examiner who performed her autopsy.

The girl came into the world at a robust 10 pounds and 21 or 22 inches, far bigger than her peers, but she died smaller than 99 percent of girls her age, according to Young, who testified Wednesday in Clackamas County Circuit Court.

Ava's development was so stunted she "was off the charts," Young said. She was a "failure-to-thrive child."

The girl's parents, Carl Brent and Raylene Worthington, are charged with criminal mistreatment and manslaughter for failing to get adequate medical treatment for their daughter.

Because her parents never took her to a doctor, Young said it's hard to say exactly when Ava's development went off track.

As Young described the physical condition of the girl, prosecutors displayed autopsy photos, prompting some spectators to leave the courtroom.

The girl's pelvic bones and ribs protruded from her body, and her abdomen was soft and flat, rather than plump, as in a typical 15-month-old, Young said.

A benign cyst ran horizontally from behind her ear to the front of her neck. Vertically, the cyst ran from her ear to her collarbone, displacing her airway, esophagus and Adam's apple, Young said. The softball-sized cyst disrupted normal breathing and swallowing and made it easier for infection to take root in her lungs, he said.

In her weakened state, Ava didn't have enough energy to fight the infection that later spilled into her blood. Underweight and struggling to breathe, Young said, "she simply ran out of energy and stopped breathing."

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