Oregon Public Broadcasting

The guilt or innocence of Brent and Raylene Worthington in the death of 15-month-old, Ava is now in the hands of a jury.

The core issue in the case may boil down to how jurors view the church community the couple  belong to -– the Followers of Christ. Rob Manning reports.

Over the course of nearly six hours of closing arguments, defense attorneys repeatedly went after state experts.

They said the autopsy was done wrong, the measurements of little Ava’s body were off, and routine steps weren’t followed.

They used phrases like “garbage in, garbage out,” “house of cards” and “good enough for government work." 

Defense attorney John Neidig says it boils down to a bias against the Followers of Christ church. 

John Niedig: “They had their diagnosis the moment they heard that it was a Follower. It was straight down to medical neglect. It didn’t take into consideration everything that should have been evaluated.”

Prosecutors backed off from some of the findings the defense objected to, but not from their core claim – that the Worthingtons caused Ava’s death by not seeking medical treatment.

The defense has argued the illness came on suddenly and defied treatment. But prosecutor Greg Horner says it was the parents who were defiant.

He says  they were following their church teachings – and relying on faith, rather than medicine.

Greg Horner: “The defense has talked very, very little about faith-healing and the exclusion of medical care, that’s part of that. They’ve talked very little about that and there’s a reason why. The reason is, it’s a key component, and it’s damaging and damning.”

Rayleen Worthington’s attorney, John Neidig raised the possibility that his client, Rayleen, should be given more leniency – because in the Followers’ community, the husband makes decisions.

The parents are both charged with manslaughter and criminal mistreatment, under an 1999 Oregon law prohibiting a religion defense when a child dies from medical neglect.