The defence continuing its case Tuesday morning (July 9) in David and Collet Stephan’s re-trial after a week long break, calling two witnesses to testify via video link.
The Stephans are accused of failing to provide the necessaries of life to their 19-month-old son Ezekial, who doctors say died from bacterial meningitis. The couple attempted to treat him with natural remedies.
The first witness was Anthony Gallagher, a registered nurse who works with the Alberta Health Services (AHS) RAAPID call centre in Calgary. He started off by explaining that the centre links physicians with other medical specialists.
He says he received a call from the Cardston Hospital on March 13, 2012, the night when Ezekial stopped breathing, but couldn’t recall if he phoned Chinook Regional Hospital after that.
Farah Saleh, an information specialist with the AHS Poison and Drug Information Service (PADIS), was the second witness, who testified that she received a call from Dr. Aoife O’Carroll early the next morning.
In call audio played aloud in the courtroom, Dr. O’Carroll asks Saleh to send a medical toxicologist to the Alberta Children’s Hospital who could help determine the sequence of events that lead to Ezekial’s illness. The doctor notes that brain scans did not indicate meningitis and she was left wondering if a toxin from natural remedies had somehow caused an infection.
Dr. Bamidele Adeagbo, the medical examiner who performed an autopsy on Ezekial, is expected to return Wednesday morning (July 10) to complete his testimony that was cut short earlier in the trial.