WALTON COUNTY, Ga. — The parents of a badly-abused infant agreed on Wednesday to remove her from life support, a decision that could mean the charges against the baby’s father escalate to murder.
The dramatic agreement came after an unusual five-minute meeting between Justin and Jamie Cason Whited at the Walton County Courthouse where a hearing was underway to determine the fate of Dinah Paige Whited.
[ The baby has been on life support for about three months ]
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Dinah could be removed on Friday from the ventilator that is keeping her alive. She is in the pediatric intensive care unit of Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta at Egleston.
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Juvenile Court Judge David Dickinson said Wednesday he was inclined to
[ grant a motion filed by Dinah’s guardian ad litem seeking to remove the child from life support ]
but wasn’t sure whether he had the legal authority to do so. Dickinson suggested he might need to ask the Georgia Supreme Court to consider the case.
Justin Whited had been opposed to removing the baby from life support but changed his mind after speaking privately to his wife in the courthouse. Both parents appeared in court on Wednesday wearing jail jumpsuits.
At one point they both began to softly cry as a video was shown of Dinah in the hospital. She was motionless with several tubes and wires keeping her alive. The video showed a nurse having to rotate her and change her position periodically because she does not move.
Justin Whited, has been charged with assaulting the girl so badly she suffered bleeding on the brain, two broken collar bones and breaks in every rib but three. Jamie Cason Whited, has been charged with child cruelty, asserting she failed to protect her child.
Both parents assert they did not abuse the child.
The case has raised a number of legal and ethical questions, key among them whether the father charged with abusing her should have a say in whether she remained on life support.
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