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Updated Oct. 20, 2005, 8:08 p.m. ET

Vegan couple see sons for first time since their arrest in daughter's death
Lamoy and Joseph Andressohn sometimes cried, but also laughed, as their young son testified in their manslaughter trial. It was the first time they'd seen him in more than two years.

MIAMI — A married couple on trial for starving their daughter to death with a strict vegan diet held each other and fought back tears as their oldest son told a Miami jury that he had forgotten his mother's name since being taken away from her in May 2003.

"I can remember a little parts," 9-year-old Yahshawa Andressohn said in court Wednesday of his former life with biological parents, Lamoy and Joseph Andressohn.

The couple is standing trial for the death of their 6-month-old daughter, Woyah, and additional counts of child endangerment for their four other children.

After a brief competency hearing and against defense objections, the thin, but upbeat, child testified via close-circuit camera from a couch in Judge Stanford Blake's chambers so he wouldn't see his parents.


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The defendants, who last saw their children in 2003 before their visitation rights were suspended, watched the screen intently, at times beaming with pride at their articulate and charming son, who resembled them both, and fighting back tears in other instances.

Following Woyah's death on May 15, 2003, Yahshawah, his brother Mykahyah and two younger sisters were placed in the care of Joseph Andressohn's sister, Mary, whom the children now call 'Mom.'

Yahshawah testified that he loved his "new" mother, who feeds him his favorite meals of tacos and roasted potatoes, in stark contrast to his biological parents' "living foods" vegan diet consisting of raw vegetables, fruits and wheatgrass.

The third-grade student testified that the meals often left him hungry, but did not complain to his parents for fear of punishment.

He grew quiet as questioning turned to his dead sister, who weighed less than 7 pounds when paramedics found her in respiratory arrest at the Andressohn home.

A few weeks later, a medical examiner classified the cause of death as "accidental malnutrition," due to insufficient diet.

Fidgeting in his seat, Yahshawah said he loved Lamoy Andressohn "three-quarters" as much as before after the death of his sister.

"All I know is they killed my little baby sister by accident," Yahshawah testified, referring to the defendants. "They gave us raw food but they didn't know my little sister would die from that."

Yahshawah was evasive when asked who told him that his sister had died from the raw-food diet or that his parents were in jail.

"I wanted to visit them," he testified. "My aunt told me no because I may go in jail."

Mykahyah, 7, offered brief testimony echoing his brother's statements about the Andressohns' lifestyle and his younger sister.

"She's dead. They gave her too much raw food," the second-grader testified, clutching one of the judge's golf clubs.

He also described the wheatgrass enemas the couple administered in lieu of traditional medical care to the children, all of whom were born in the Andressohn home.

"It's something you put water in," the pint-sized witness testified quietly.

"Where do you put it?" Assistant State Attorney Herbert Walker asked.

"In my butt," Mykahyah testified.

Outside court, Joseph Andressohn was subdued about the near-encounter with his sons.

"It was wonderful to see my children. It's been a little over two and a half years. They looked good," he said. "But my whole family is still divided."

He suggested that the children's guardian had tried to erase their memories of the biological parents.

"Whenever Mom and Dad came up, it sounds like the children's guardian ordered them to change the subject, so they eventually gave up," he said.

"What struck me the most was he didn't remember us and didn't know my wife's name ... for anyone who has children, look at your child and think about what if that happened to your child."

Joseph and Lamoy Andressohn each face 30 years for aggravated manslaughter and 20 years on four counts of child endangerment if convicted.

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Watch the trial


Case in pictures

Sentencing

Couple out on bond

Verdict

Expert: Rare disease led to baby's death

Investigator: Children of vegan couple seemed healthy

Witnesses: Children showed signs of malnourishment

Aunt: Children of vegan parents underfed

Sons testify in parents' trial

Openings presented

Read the autopsy report


Read the police narrative

Case background

Related case:
NY v. Swinton




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