PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) – Oregon’s chief medical examiner said Tuesday that an infant born to members of a church that practices faith healing died from complications of prematurity as authorities conducted a criminal investigation into the child’s death.
The baby, Gennifer, was probably “a couple of months” premature and her lungs were too underdeveloped to allow her to breath unassisted for long, Dr. Karen Gunson, the chief medical examiner, said in a phone interview. (Moved this higher)
Clackamas County sheriff’s investigators will present the case to prosecutors but have not finished interviewing witnesses, Sgt. Brian Jensen told The Associated Press in a phone interview.
She died a few hours after her birth at her grandparents’ home on March 5 in Oregon City, where the Followers of Christ Church is based. Her birth was attended by three traditional midwives, family members and other church members, authorities have said.
No one called 911 when the baby began to have trouble breathing, Jensen said.