A father accused along with members of a fringe religious group of killing his diabetic daughter has broken down in tears in Supreme Court as members of the group give their closing addresses.
On Friday the congregation, known as “the Saints”, told a judge the allegations against the members were false, and that they believed the girl would be healed by God.
Kerrie and Jason Struhs with their eight-year-old daughter Elizabeth.Credit: A Current Affair
Elizabeth Struhs, 8, died in January 2022, after going almost a week without her insulin shots for type-1 diabetes. She died on a mattress on the floor of her Toowoomba home, with various members of the group sleeping around her in her final hours.
Paramedics were called to the house 36 hours later, where they found Elizabeth’s body partially face down, with a blanket covering parts of her.
One of the group, Keita Courtney Martin, 22, told the court she was with “great confidence that God must raise [Elizabeth] again, and he will”.
The group members said they believed the allegations against them were a “genre of fiction”, and that information had been misconstrued.
Elizabeth was a type-1 diabetic who needed regular insulin shots. Credit: Nine News
Elizabeth’s father, Jason Richard Struhs, 53, and the group’s leader, Brendan Luke Stevens, 62, are facing charges of murder. Her mother, Kerrie Elizabeth Struhs, 49, and 11 other members of the group were charged with manslaughter.
The congregation has faced a judge-only trial in the Supreme Court in Brisbane for the past seven weeks, where Justice Martin Burns has heard hours of police interviews, phone calls and text messages between the congregation about the decision to withdraw Elizabeth’s insulin.
Church group accused of killing girl give closing submissions
