Colo. Girl's Diabetes Death Ruled Homicide

Feb. 13 -- The death of a teenager whose parents refused to get her treated for diabetes because of religious beliefs has been classified a homicide and the parents could be charged with murder, Colorado prosecutors said today.

Janet Prell, spokeswoman for the Mesa County Sheriff's Office, said the Feb. 5 death of 13-year-old Amanda Bates was still being investigated and that prosecutors haven't decided whether to file charges against the girl's parents, Colleen and Randy Bates. The Bateses belong to the General Assembly Church of the First Born, a Christian sect that does not believe in medical treatment but instead relies on faith healing.

Amanda is the second of the Bateses' 12 children to die. In 1997, 3-month-old Gerald Bates died of sudden infant death syndrome. Colleen and Randy Bates were not charged in that case because Mesa County Coroner Dr. Robert Kurtzman, who performed the autopsy, said they could not have detected the problem before Gerald died, and previous medical care could not have saved the baby.

But Kurtzman told ABC affiliate KJCT in Colorado that Amanda's case is different: The complications from the diabetes that took her life could have been easily detected and treated. Amanda's death, Kurtzman said, was a direct result of not receiving proper medical care.

"The death of Amanda Bates occurred as a direct consequence ofwithholding medical care in a life-endangering condition and,therefore, the manner of death has been classified as a homicide,"said Kurtzman.

It will now be up to prosecutors to decide whether to charge her parents in the alleged murder.

History of Medical-Deprived Deaths

Last week, Amanda was hospitalized after someone from her home called police to report that she had stopped breathing. According to police, members of the General Assembly Church of the First Born had been at her home praying over her and anointing her with oil. Amanda was revived and put on artificial life support at a Grand Junction hospital. She was then airlifted to Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center in Denver, where she later died.