Trial delayed for couple accused of failing to give son lifesaving medicine
The trial of a Park City couple facing allegations they failed to give their 11-year-old son medication he needed to survive a heart transplant has been postponed indefinitely.
Attorneys for Jason Stroud, 41, and Jennifer Stroud, 36, agreed in court Wednesday to delay their scheduled May 22 trial on manslaughter and child endangerment charges stemming from the Sept. 11 death of their son, Jason. A new trial date was not scheduled.
Both parents have pleaded not guilty to the charges. They face up to 14 years in prison if found guilty of manslaughter.
Authorities say Jason was a sixth-grader at Woodland Middle School in Gurnee when he died last year, about four years after undergoing heart transplant surgery in Milwaukee.
In June 2015, the Strouds moved to Illinois and were supposed to take Jason to Ann & Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital in Chicago for regular visits and give him medication daily to prevent his body from rejecting the new heart, authorities said.
But after Jason missed several hospital appointments between December 2015 and August 2016, the Illinois Department of Children and Family Services performed a well-being check, authorities said. He was taken to Lurie Children's Hospital, where it was determined his body rejected the donor heart because he was not receiving his medication, authorities said.
Jennifer Stroud is free from the Lake County jail after posting 10 percent of her $75,000 bail. David Stroud remains in jail on the same bail amount.
David Stroud is due back in court July 17 and Jennifer Stroud is due back in court July 18 for status hearings.