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On the evening of March 13, 2012, Ezekiel suddenly stopped breathing. He was rushed to hospital and eventually ended up in Calgary where doctors detected very little brain activity. Ezekiel died a couple of days later.

The Crown says Ezekiel had been sick for more than two weeks and wasn’t fully recovered.

A reasonably prudent parent wouldn’t, as David said — wait and see if he got worse.

“A reasonably prudent parent wouldn’t, as David said — wait and see if he got worse,” said Weich.

“Failing to take him to a doctor was a marked departure from what a reasonably prudent parent would have done … it’s far below the minimum standard of care for children that society expects. They should not have walked to the hospital — they should have run.”

A friend of the Stephans, who is a registered nurse, testified she told the mother that he might have viral meningitis and advised the boy be taken to a doctor.

Court documents entered in the trial show that just days before Ezekiel was rushed to hospital his family was giving him fluids through an eyedropper because he wouldn’t eat or drink.

The jury has also heard that Collet Stephan researched treatments for viral meningitis online and the next day picked up an echinacea mixture from a naturopath in Lethbridge.

Court was told Ezekiel was too stiff to sit in his car seat and had to lie on a mattress as they drove to the naturopath’s office the day before he stopped breathing.

Weich recounted David Stephan’s description of Ezekiel’s change in breathing the night he went to hospital. She said it was a six count followed by about five seconds where he seemed to be holding his breath.

Weich was silent for five seconds before continuing her submission.

“That’s five seconds. Imagine your kid not breathing for five seconds,” she continued.

“What do the accused do? The accused wait until Ezekiel stops breathing.”

The charge to the jury is scheduled for Monday afternoon.