Baby’s parents disagree on life support for her

May 9, 2010 at 12:00a.m.

Associated Press

AKRON

A teenage father accused of shaking his baby and causing severe brain-damage disagrees with the girl’s mother over whether the child should be removed from life support, in a potentially precedent-setting case scheduled to come before a judge later this month.

In considering the fate of 6-month-old Jada Ruiz, Summit County Probate Judge Bill Spicer must bridge a gap in Ohio law, which currently does not have an answer for when one parent wants to take a child off life support and the other doesn’t, observers say.

“Thankfully this issue will only affect a relatively few children,” said John Saros, executive director of Summit County Children Services. “But when it does affect them, it is of enormous, enormous impact — and it just cries out for a solution.”

On one side in Jada Ruiz’s case is her father, John Jones, 17, who is accused of injuring the child in March. He has sought a court order to keep her breathing on a ventilator and fed intravenously at Akron Children’s Hospital.

“He wants [his daughter]to be given every opportunity for any potential recovery that she has,” said Pamela Hawkins, Jones’ attorney.

Hawkins, her client and his family say Jones is innocent of charges of felonious assault and felony child endangering.

Prosecutors could seek a murder charge if the baby dies. Hawkins said that possibility has no connection to Jones’ position on life support.

“He made this decision before he was charged with anything,” she said.

On the other side in the dispute is the child’s mother, 18-year-old Deja Ruiz. She believes, based on what doctors have told her, that “there is no hope for this child,” said her lawyer Mary Ellen Leslie.

“She believes that this child should be allowed to die. I think she believes that in essence the child is already gone,” Leslie said.

During a recent court hearing, the infant’s maternal grandmother said the family didn’t want the girl to suffer.

“We can love her until the day she expires,” said Lolita Tucker, “but why should we take her through all this pain?”

In 2004, the Ohio Supreme Court overturned a Summit County decision by Spicer, ruling that the right to withdraw life support from a child remains with the parents until their rights are permanently terminated. Infant Aiden Stein, whose father was later convicted of felonious assault and child endangering, suffered permanent brain damage and both parents wanted to keep him on life support.

A court-appointed guardian had sought to take the boy off life support, saying the parents had a conflict because the father could face a murder charge if the baby died.

Custody was eventually turned over to the paternal grandmother, and he is now 6 years old.

A trial on Jada Ruiz’s fate is scheduled to begin May 24. Spicer has appointed a guardian charged with looking out for the baby. The couple’s children are in the temporary custody of Children Services on an emergency temporary basis.

“This is just about as difficult a case as you could get,” said Jessica Berg, a professor of law and bioethics at Case Western Reserve University. “The trick here is how to put into place a process where you can make the decision without getting too wrapped up in some of the really awful things that just happened here.”

Jones called 911 on March 19 to report that his daughter wasn’t breathing. He was caring for the girl and her twin sister and older brother while their mother was at school. He’s now in juvenile detention, and because he’s a minor, his grandmother is his legal custodian.

Saros said the girl suffered fractures and brain damage “as severe as it can get without actual death.”

Jones’ family wants time to make sure doctors have considered all possible treatments, said his mother, Michelle Lute, and his sister, Tisha Lute.

“All we can do is pray. All we can do is hope that something will happen to save this child,” said Tisha Lute. “She did not deserve what happened to her.”