GLADSTONE, Ore., Oct. 7 (UPI) -- An Oregon couple who belong to a faith-healing church have been charged with the criminally negligent homicide of their teenage son.
Neal Beagley, 16, died in June of kidney and heart failure. He had a blockage in his urinary tract that doctors say could have been easily cured.
His parents, Jeffrey Dean Beagley and Marci Rue Beagley, pleaded not guilty last week to the criminal charge, ABC News reported Tuesday.
The parents belong to Followers of Christ Church, which believes in faith healing. Relatives told investigators for the Gladstone Police Department that the teenager also did not want medical treatment.
Another couple in the Beagley family also faces manslaughter charges. Neil Beagley's niece, Ava Worthington, died of an untreated ear infection in March at the age of 15 months, and her parents are awaiting trial.
