Defence to Call 1st Witness at Trial of Couple Charged in Son’s Death

LETHBRIDGE: The defence is to call its first witness on Monday (April 11th), at the trial of a former Alberta couple charged in the death of their toddler son from bacterial meningitis.

The toddler’s parents, David and Collet Stephan, formerly of Glenwood, are charged with failing to provide the necessities of life for their son Ezekiel.

Defence lawyer Shawn Buckley has already told the jury that evidence will show the almost 19-month-old boy appeared to get better at times right up until the night he stopped breathing and had to be rushed to hospital in March 2012.

The trial in Lethbridge has heard that the boy had been sick for about 2 1/2 weeks, and his parents gave him natural remedies and homemade smoothies containing hot pepper, ginger root, horseradish and onion.