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In 2012, 15-year-old Donia was found dead in her bed in a foster home.
The District Court acquitted the foster parents of manslaughter and causing the death of another, and the Court of Appeal now makes the same assessment.
– The verdict is of course a big disappointment and it can already be said that it will be appealed, says the biological parents’ representative.
It was in 2012 that 15-year-old Donia was found dead in her bed in a family home in southern Sweden.
The girl had been ill with glandular fever and probably died of sepsis.
Her biological parents believed that the foster parents, by not ensuring that the girl received adequate care, had committed manslaughter or causing the death of another, and charges were brought in October 2022.
The district court, however, acquitted the foster parents of the criminal charges, which were appealed and on Wednesday announced the judgment of the appeals court – which makes the same assessment as the district court.
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full screen 15-year-old Donia was found dead in her bed in a foster home in 2012. Photo: Privat
“Not passive”
In short, the Court of Appeal also does not consider that it has been proven that the girl’s course of illness “noticeably deviated from what normally follows from glandular fever” and what the foster parents were told about the illness.
“Nor is it proven that they knew the girl was suffering from anything other than glandular fever. In addition, there is nothing to suggest that they would have been passive if they had realized that there was a risk that the girl would die if she did not receive care,” writes the Court of Appeal in a comment.
Regarding causing the death of another, the Court of Appeal agrees with the district court’s assessment that the crime is time-barred.
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full screen Donia’s mother Annina Karlsson. Photo: Krister Hansson
“Will appeal”
The Court of Appeal also shares the district court’s view that the foster parents should also not have understood that the girl was so ill that she was at risk of dying.
The family home parents must therefore not pay any compensation.
The biological parents’ lawyer, Monica Crusner, writes in an email to Aftonbladet that she believes that the Court of Appeal, like the district court, set a far too low bar for what you have to do when you are responsible for a sick child.
“The verdict is of course a big disappointment and it can already be said that it will be appealed”.
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full screen”The foster parents have been indifferent to her (Donia’s) illness. There has been an intention of indifference. A call to 1177 or the health center could have given her penicillin,” says lawyer Monica Crusner. Photo: Krister Hansson
Attorney Sophia Nottehed represents the one foster parent. She tells Aftonbladet that they are satisfied with the Court of Appeal’s verdict.
– They have confirmed the district court’s judgment throughout and followed its line. It was an expected outcome. A good verdict that we are happy with, even if the case itself is very tragic. But it is nice that this has reached a certain end point, and that it has been determined that my client and her husband had no responsibility for the tragic thing that happened.