A jury in Kew Gardens, N.Y. convicted a vegan couple of nearly starving their baby to death with a strict diet that the prosecutor described as "a path to hell."

Joseph and Silva Swinton, both 32, were found guilty in Queens Supreme Court of assault, reckless endangerment and endangering the welfare of a child.

The couple fed their toddler daughter, Ice, a homemade soy bean and herb infant formula that left the little girl with the appearance of a Third World famine victim and the developmental abilities of a newborn. At 15 months, Ice had no teeth and could not sit up, crawl or walk.

Silva Swinton

The Swintons will face up to 25 years in prison when sentenced at a later date by Judge Richard Buchter.

With their verdict, which came after two days of deliberations, the jury rejected arguments of the Swintons' attorneys, who said the couple wanted only the best for their baby and did not realize the harm the diet was causing her.

The felony assault and reckless endangerment convictions indicate the panel found the couple acted with "depraved indifference," or recklessness "so wanton" that it is equivalent to purposefully starving Ice. If the jury had found the Swintons simply reckless, they could have convicted them on misdemeanor charges that carry no mandatory jail time.

Assistant District Attorney Eric Rosenbaum said the pair treated their daughter "like a gerbil" and called the diet "a grotesque science project." He argued that the couple were well aware that their daughter was sick and showed "willfull blindness" to the problems.

Joseph Swinton

"A 15-month-old child who cannot walk, cannot stand and cannot crawl — that tells you that something is very, very wrong," Rosenbaum told the jury during closing arguments.

All the panelists had experience caring for small children. None are vegetarians.

The girl, who will celebrate her third birthday in July, and her baby brother, Ini, born after the Swintons' arrests, now live with relatives of the couple. (Court papers spell the girl's name Ice, although the parents have spelled it Iice.)

The testimony of Silva Swinton was the three-week trial's dramatic highpoint and may have ultimately proved harmful to her defense. She told jurors that Ice "was thriving" on the vegan diet and suggested that it was hospitalizations and medical care ordered by social services that had made her daughter sick.