Overview
- The proceedings began at the Landgericht Itzehoe, where prosecutor Maxi Wantzen read charges against the two 24-year-old parents.
- A preliminary autopsy found the four-month-old, born in May 2025, died of starvation at the family home in Brunsbüttel in late September.
- The indictment alleges the parents failed to provide sufficient food and fluids and consciously accepted the child’s death, invoking cruelty based on extended suffering.
- Both defendants declined to make statements at the opening hearing but indicated they may testify at a later date, and a motion seeks to exclude the public for those statements.
- The court expects the trial to run through the end of May, the parents remain in custody in Lübeck, and the victim’s two three-year-old siblings are participating as co-plaintiffs.