Alberta judge mulls expanding inquest into death of starving Calgary teenager

CALGARY — An Alberta judge investigating the death of a Calgary teenager who weighed just 37 pounds at the time of his death has suggested her investigation may need to be expanded to include witnesses from British Columbia.

Alexandru Radita died in May 2013 of bacterial sepsis brought on by complications from untreated diabetes and starvation.

Her parents, who moved from British Columbia to Alberta, were convicted of first degree murder in 2017.

Witnesses at their trial said the couple refused to accept that their son had diabetes and failed to treat his condition, as well as being placed in foster care before eventually being returned to his parents.

Judge Sharon Van de Veen is trying to determine what could have been done to save the boy’s life and prevent more cases like this from happening again.

She says government officials have been involved throughout the child’s life, including child and family services in British Columbia, and there may be a need to expand the investigation to find out why there was no sharing of information between the two provinces.

This report from The Canadian Press was first published on September 22, 2022.

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