2013 IN REVIEW: Phila. Couple Chooses Prayer, Not Doctor, For Dying Son
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- A Northeast Philadelphia couple admitted this year to making a deadly choice, twice, based on their religion.
Herbert and Catherine Schaible are awaiting sentencing in 2014 after admitting they chose prayer over medicine, leading to the death of their seven-month-old son last April.
At the time of Brandon's death, they were still on probation for making the same choice leading to the death of a two-year-old son, Kent, in 2009.
Philadelphia prosecutor Joanne Pescatore says that like his older brother, Brandon Schaible died a slow, agonizing death.
"I can't even imagine, being a mother myself, what was happening. -- the sheer pain and the stress that that child was in. When a parent can actually say that his breathing was worsening and he was fussy and whiny and crying and still, at that point, not calling anyone for help, it's just unbelievable to me. And totally forseeable."
Sentencing for the Schaibles is scheduled for February.
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