Parents formally charged with murder

CTV Calgary: Police charge parents with murder The parents of a 15-year-old Calgary boy have been charged with murder. Stephanie Brennan has the latest.

Calgary Police have now officially charged the parents of a teenage boy found dead in Citadel last May with first degree murder.

At about 10 a.m. on May 7, 2013, police were called to a home in the 100 block of Citadel Drive N.W. for reports of a deceased youth.

When they attended the scene, police found Alexandru Radita in his bed amidst conditions that police say were horrific.

Radita was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at a very young age and police say that autopsy results have revealed that he died of bacterial sepsis, a result of neglect and starvation and from complications of his disease.

“This boy has suffered from long-term neglect, to the point he was unable to seek medical attention on his own,” says Staff Sergeant Grant Miller with the CPS.

His parents, Emil and Rodica Radita, are now facing charges of first degree murder.

Miller says the details are extreme. “This boy was in a very difficult position for an extended length of time. In this situation, the details are extreme, thus the extreme charge of first degree murder.”

Police say that Alex had seven health siblings, but investigators say the conditions he was left in were horrific, his parents leaving him in diapers and homeschooling him.

They add that they aren't sure about the motive for failing to provide treatment, but they have ruled out any possibility that it was based on religious beliefs.

Neighbours say that they rarely saw Alex outside.

Police are still struggling with questions of why Alex was left without care for a controllable disease while his siblings were well cared for.

The preventable nature of Alex’s suffering and eventual death is the chief factor in what prompted the murder charges.

“It most definitely could have been stopped before,” Miller says. “And when you care for a loved one or sick child you need to take them to the doctor. Home medicine and home thoughts don’t substitute for modern medicine, especially in the City of Calgary.”

They remain in police custody.

There is no information about the welfare of the remaining children.