Toddler small, but not starved: expert

Pathologist testifies there were no signs John Clark a victim of abuse by parents

The child of a Calgary couple charged with negligence in his death showed no signs of physical abuse, a pathologist testified Thursday.

Medical examiner Dr. Elizabeth Brooks-Lim said she saw no signs that John Clark was the victim of intentional abuse.

“He was a small child, he didn’t look like he’d been starved. He wasn’t a starved child, he was a small child, so I wasn’t worried that the child had not been fed,” Brooks-Lim told Crown prosecutor Shane Parker.

She said the 14-month-old, who died from sepsis related to malnutrition on Nov. 29, 2013, had a body weight within the normal range.

Brooks-Lim said John’s weight was between the third and 15th percentile for his age.

“So he wasn’t a starved baby, he wasn’t a beaten child, either ... it wasn’t as if he’d been beaten about the head and his bones had been broken,” she said.

Jennifer and Jeromie Clark are charged with criminal negligence causing death in connection with the child’s death. They’re also charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life.

The couple took the toddler to Foothills Medical Centre the afternoon of Nov. 28, 2013, and he was quickly transferred to the nearby Alberta Children’s Hospital.

Brooks-Lim said the child succumbed to “overwhelming sepsis” the next day as infection ravaged his body. “His body was starting to look exhausted from trying to fight an infection.” The doctor said her autopsy showed a “chronic change of malnutrition.”

“This young child had suffered a very severe infection, his body had tried very hard to fight it, it was becoming so exhausted.”

Jeromie Clark’s lawyer, David Chow, quizzed the pathologist on the child’s treatment at the children’s hospital, which included raising his sodium levels.

Chow noted that in a 12-minute period shortly after the boy’s admission to the second hospital, his sodium was increased by seven millimoles per litre, with texts saying such levels should not be increased by more than 10 millimoles in 24 hours.

“You know the rapid correction of sodium can cause a person to die?” Chow asked.

“That’s correct,” said BrooksLim, who qualified her answers with the proviso she hadn’t treated a live patient since 2001.

“It can be a cause of death?” Chow said.

“Yes,” Brooks-Lim said. Jurors will return to court Monday. to hear whether the defence will be presenting any evidence.

He wasn’t a starved child, he was a small child, so I wasn’t worried that the child had not been fed.