DOHA, Qatar, Nov. 5 (UPI) -- American parents of an 8-year-old girl adopted from Africa said their daughter had an eating disorder that led to her starvation death in Qatar.
Gloria Huang, 8, died Jan. 15, 2012, after parents Matthew and Grace Huang found her unresponsive in her room at the family's home in Qatar, The New York Times reported Monday.
The Qatar medical examiner said Gloria died of starvation and dehydration, and the Huangs, parents of two other children adopted from Africa, were imprisoned, accused of starving their daughter to death with the intent of selling her organs.
Defense lawyers are scheduled to present their case Wednesday in the Huangs' trial, the Times reported.
"The prosecution has been presenting its evidence without any input from our side," said Alex Simpson, a trial lawyer assisting in the defense of the Huangs. "You've got these people who have been sitting in jail for almost a year, and based on stuff they're not entirely sure about -- where did it come from? We're going to be explaining to the court our side of the story for the first time."
Defense lawyers argue the Huangs had been trying to manage Gloria's eating disorder. They said she would go days without eating, binge on junk food, rummage through garbage for food, or steal food and hide it in her room.
American adoption agencies said such behavior isn't uncommon among children adopted from countries where food is scarce, like Gloria's native Ghana.
