Max
12-11-2002, 11:32 AM
Judge allows life-support removal
Guardian of infant likely to act within days; parents expected to be present
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
The short life of Taylor Marie Darling will be allowed to end.
Summit County Probate Judge Bill Spicer signed an order Tuesday authorizing a court-appointed guardian's recommendation to remove the 14-week-old infant from life support.
The guardian, Wooster lawyer Karin C. Wiest, made the recommendation on Dec. 3 after a doctor testified in a two-hour hearing that the Wayne County baby suffered severe brain and spinal cord injuries when she was shaken.
Wiest has 30 days to file a report that her recommendation was carried out, according to Spicer's order, but a lawyer for the Wayne County Children Services Board said it probably will be carried out within a few days.
Paula M. Sawyers, chief legal counsel for Children Services, said she expects Taylor's parents -- 17-year-old Jennifer Darling and her 20-year-old husband, Mark A. Darling -- to be with the child when life support is removed.
Wiest said: ``I'm not going to stand in the way of that if they want to be there.''
Taylor has been on life support at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron since Nov. 12.
Angela Cooper, a Children Services worker, testified in last week's hearing that Mark Darling was caring for Taylor that morning in his Mount Eaton home while Jennifer Darling was at work. Cooper said Mark Darling called 911 to report that Taylor was ``nonresponsive.''
Taylor was taken to Wooster Community Hospital, then flown by helicopter to Children's.
Wiest, director of the guardian ad litem program in Wayne County, said she will meet soon with Children's Hospital doctors to determine when the child will be removed from life support.
Dr. John Pope, who has treated Taylor at the hospital, testified in last week's hearing that she has ``no chance of any meaningful recovery'' from an alleged incident of shaken baby syndrome.
If Taylor is not removed from life support, Pope testified, doctors would have to perform ``invasive surgery,'' cutting a hole in her throat that would allow her to breathe and a hole in her stomach that would allow her to receive nutrition.
Lawyers for the parents, who advised them not to discuss the case after the hearing in Spicer's courtroom, did not return calls seeking comment.
The right-to-die case is being heard by Spicer because Wayne County Juvenile Judge Raymond E. Leisy denied a Children Services motion to disconnect Taylor from life support on Nov. 19, saying he did not think he had the authority to issue such an order. Children Services had obtained temporary emergency custody of Taylor after she was injured.
Three days after Leisy's ruling, Wiest and Children Services filed a motion for the case to be heard in Spicer's court. Spicer has ruled on several cases that have shaped the way right-to-die issues are decided in Ohio's courts.
According to court documents, both parents are under investigation in Wayne County over incidents in which abuse of Taylor is alleged.
The child was born Sept. 1, according to court documents.
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Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com
Guardian of infant likely to act within days; parents expected to be present
By Ed Meyer
Beacon Journal staff writer
The short life of Taylor Marie Darling will be allowed to end.
Summit County Probate Judge Bill Spicer signed an order Tuesday authorizing a court-appointed guardian's recommendation to remove the 14-week-old infant from life support.
The guardian, Wooster lawyer Karin C. Wiest, made the recommendation on Dec. 3 after a doctor testified in a two-hour hearing that the Wayne County baby suffered severe brain and spinal cord injuries when she was shaken.
Wiest has 30 days to file a report that her recommendation was carried out, according to Spicer's order, but a lawyer for the Wayne County Children Services Board said it probably will be carried out within a few days.
Paula M. Sawyers, chief legal counsel for Children Services, said she expects Taylor's parents -- 17-year-old Jennifer Darling and her 20-year-old husband, Mark A. Darling -- to be with the child when life support is removed.
Wiest said: ``I'm not going to stand in the way of that if they want to be there.''
Taylor has been on life support at Children's Hospital Medical Center of Akron since Nov. 12.
Angela Cooper, a Children Services worker, testified in last week's hearing that Mark Darling was caring for Taylor that morning in his Mount Eaton home while Jennifer Darling was at work. Cooper said Mark Darling called 911 to report that Taylor was ``nonresponsive.''
Taylor was taken to Wooster Community Hospital, then flown by helicopter to Children's.
Wiest, director of the guardian ad litem program in Wayne County, said she will meet soon with Children's Hospital doctors to determine when the child will be removed from life support.
Dr. John Pope, who has treated Taylor at the hospital, testified in last week's hearing that she has ``no chance of any meaningful recovery'' from an alleged incident of shaken baby syndrome.
If Taylor is not removed from life support, Pope testified, doctors would have to perform ``invasive surgery,'' cutting a hole in her throat that would allow her to breathe and a hole in her stomach that would allow her to receive nutrition.
Lawyers for the parents, who advised them not to discuss the case after the hearing in Spicer's courtroom, did not return calls seeking comment.
The right-to-die case is being heard by Spicer because Wayne County Juvenile Judge Raymond E. Leisy denied a Children Services motion to disconnect Taylor from life support on Nov. 19, saying he did not think he had the authority to issue such an order. Children Services had obtained temporary emergency custody of Taylor after she was injured.
Three days after Leisy's ruling, Wiest and Children Services filed a motion for the case to be heard in Spicer's court. Spicer has ruled on several cases that have shaped the way right-to-die issues are decided in Ohio's courts.
According to court documents, both parents are under investigation in Wayne County over incidents in which abuse of Taylor is alleged.
The child was born Sept. 1, according to court documents.
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Ed Meyer can be reached at 330-996-3784 or emeyer@thebeaconjournal.com