LANSING — The grandparents of a newborn girl who died from a treatable condition after her parents refused to get her medical care pleaded with their daughter to alter her path during a sentencing hearing Wednesday, June 11 in Ingham County Circuit Court.
“We want you back, we love you and we willingly forgive you,” Rachel Piland’s father, Glenn Kerr, said before Rachel, 38, and her husband, Joshua Piland, 44, were sentenced to a minimum of 20 years in prison for second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse. “We are ready and willing. I pray this will not be the last time we see you.”
Rachel’s mother, Rebecca Kerr, said she longs for the return of their close relationship, even though Rachel chose to follow an extreme religious doctrine that pushed her away from her family and prompted decisions that led to the death of Abigail Piland in 2017. Those decisions “created layers of trauma” in the lives of the couple’s children, Kerr said.
“Love you, sweetie,” Rebecca Kerr said, moments before Ingham County Circuit Judge James Jamo handed down Rachel’s sentences.
Abigail was just 61 hours old when she died at the Pilands’ Lansing home from a treatable condition that caused a lethal buildup of bilirubin, a condition known as jaundice. A jury convicted them of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse following a trial in March.
In separate hearings, Jamo on June 11 sentenced each to 240 months to 540 months, or 20 to 45 years, in prison for second-degree murder, and 225 months to 540 months in prison for first-degree child abuse. Those sentences will run concurrently, and both defendants will get 77 days credit for time served.
What seemed like a factually dense, complicated case turned out to be relatively simple in the end, the judge said. The jury found Abigail died from the intentional withholding of medical care and convicted her parents of murder, he said.
“What you have done … has impacted multiple lives,” he told Rachel Piland.
Jamo said protection of society was an important factor because there is no reason to believe the Pilands, if given the opportunity, would act differently in a future scenario, “and that means there is a high risk and a need for protection of children.”
Deputy Chief Assistant Ingham County Prosecutor Bill Crino said everyone has the right to make health care decisions for themselves, but the law requires parents to protect their children, and that includes seeking medical help when necessary. The Pilands’ pattern of behavior continued with two subsequent children who were born with the same malady as Abigail but survived after the state took them from their parents and got them life-saving medical care, he noted.
“They adamantly failed to provide medical care without even consulting someone,” Crino told Jamo on Wednesday, noting Abigail died from “an essentially eradicated and easily preventable disease.”
Wednesday’s hearings ended an eight-year criminal legal case stemming from the death of Abigail, who died from a treatable condition that caused a lethal buildup of bilirubin, a condition known as jaundice. The couple lost custody of all of their surviving children in civil court proceedings.
The Pilands testified they trusted only in God for healing and would not have taken Abigail to a doctor for any reason.
Prosecutors contended the couple caused the baby’s death by shunning medical care, despite warnings the baby could die. In late March, a jury convicted the Pilands of second-degree murder and first-degree child abuse, both maximum life felonies, after a lengthy trial.
The jury was allowed to consider lesser charges of involuntary manslaughter and third-degree child abuse, as well as not-guilty verdicts, but convicted the Pilands on the most serious charges.
Parents prayed over the body instead of calling 911
Abigail was born late on Feb. 6, 2017, with the assistance of a midwife. She died on the morning of Feb. 9, 2017 as a result of hemolytic disease of the newborn, which in turn resulted from an Rh incompatibility between her and her mother.
The parents and a group of friends prayed over Abigail’s lifeless body, and no one at the home called 911 to report the death. Police were alerted by a relative who lives in California and responded to the house about nine hours after Abigail died.
The jury deliberated about four hours over two days before returning its verdicts after listening to days of testimony by police, medical doctors and other witnesses.
“This was a very difficult and long case,” Crino said after the jury returned its verdicts in Late March. “Throughout, we have tried to use Abigail Piland’s life as a lighthouse to guide us through the many complex legal and factual issues that were presented.”
Abigail died from a condition so rare that it’s basically been eradicated, according to testimony. The blood incompatibility problem is easily treated with a prenatal injection, and doctors testified that Abigail still could have been saved after she was born if she had received treatment.
About 20 hours after Abigail was born, a midwife and her assistant noticed she was jaundiced and advised she be taken to a hospital immediately, but the couple declined. Rachel’s mother, who had traveled from Grand Rapids to help when the baby was born, also implored her daughter to seek medical care for Abigail, but the couple declined.
“We believed (praying) was the best thing we could possibly do for her,” Rachel Piland testfied in the trial. “Even if she had died from some kind of struggle, we wouldn’t have called 911.”
Attorneys argue the couple did the best they could
Attorneys for the Pilands argued they cared for their daughter as best they could and said prosecutors failed to prove they acted with the intent necessary for them to be guilty of murder or involuntary manslaughter.
They also said Joshua and Rachel tried to treat Abigail’s jaundice by placing her in a sunlit window and did what they could to help her on their own. And both of them thought Abigail was getting better just before she died, they said.
On Wednesday, defense attorneys suggested minimum prison terms of 15 years would be appropriate, noting that both Pilands are well-educated, had no prior criminal record and have done missionary work. Joshua Piland served in the U.S. Marine Corps, his attorney, John Toivonen, said.
Fighting back tears, Rachel Piland told Jamo she and her husband have “the utmost love” for their children.
“My husband and I believe the very best thing we can do is seek healing from Jesus Christ,” Rachel said.
Josh Piland simply asked for leniency.
Glenn Kerr told his daughter she abandoned her family for “counterfeit beliefs” and “built a wall to protect your irrational motives.”
In a statement read in court, Rachel’s brother, Joel Kerr, said the Pilands “chose their beliefs over their children.” He asked for sentences “sufficiently long that (the couple) can no longer bring life into the world just to snuff it out.”
During the trial, prosecutors introduced evidence about two of the couple’s children born after Abigail. Both were born at home from hemolytic disease of the newborn after their mother had received no prenatal care but were seized by Child Protective Services shortly after birth and received life-saving care at a hospital.
The Pilands had sought to keep out evidence about medical care and their other children, or what is known in legal circles as “other acts” evidence. But the Court of Appeals sided with prosecutors and cleared the way for them to present evidence about children who were born after Abigail’s death.
The Michigan Supreme Court declined Rachel Piland’s request for it to intervene in that appeal.
Contact Ken Palmer atkpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj.
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Lansing faith-healing couple sentenced for death of baby who died of treatable condition
Reporting by Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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