Springfield, Mass. – The state’s highest court ruled Tuesday that an 11-year-old girl who was allegedly kicked and beaten with a baseball bat could be taken off life support. The move could lead to murder charges against her stepfather.
State officials had asked that Haleigh Poutre’s ventilator and feeding tube be withdrawn after doctors said she was in a vegetative state with no hope of recovery.
Her stepfather, who is already charged with beating the girl, fought the move, but the Supreme Judicial Court ruled against him.
No immediate date was set for the removal of life support, said Denise Monteiro, a spokeswoman for the state Department of Social Services. Doctors have said Haleigh would die within a few days without the feeding tube.
Haleigh, of Westfield, was hospitalized in September and taken into state custody after a beating authorities say was administered by her stepfather, Jason Strickland, and her adoptive mother, Holli Strickland. Both were charged with assault.
Less than two weeks later, Holli Strickland, who was Haleigh’s aunt and Jason Strickland’s wife, was found dead alongside her grandmother in a possible murder-suicide.
Although Jason Strickland never adopted the girl, he argued that he should be considered a de facto parent and given a say in whether she lives or dies.
However, the Supreme Judicial Court unanimously ruled that Strickland could not prove that his role in Haleigh’s life was “of a loving or nurturing nature, or even that it was beneficial to the child.”
Haleigh’s biological mother, Allison Avrett, supported removing the girl from life support.
