Supreme Court won't hear appeals of Calgary couple convicted in son's death

Canada's top court will not hear the case of two Calgary parents whose teenage son died from untreated diabetes and starvation weighing just 37 pounds. 

In 2017, Emil and Rodica Radita were convicted of first-degree murder in the death of 15-year-old Alexandru.

The boy was so neglected that he weighed 37 pounds and was covered in 44 ulcers and wounds when he died of complications from untreated diabetes and starvation in 2013.

Last year, the Alberta Court of Appeal dismissed the parents' bid to have their convictions overturned.

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The Raditas had a long history of refusing to properly treat Alexandru's condition, beginning when he was diagnosed at age two.

Back then, the Radita family lived in Surrey, B.C. Over the next several years, the child's untreated or mistreated diabetes caused him to be hospitalized numerous times.

His parents repeatedly told medical officials they did not believe their son had diabetes.

Alex nearly died when he was five. At that time, he was seized from his parents until a judge in British Columbia returned the boy to his family. 

The judge said at the time that he believed school and health officials would be able to keep an eye on the boy and would notice if he began to deteriorate again. 

But after the Raditas got their son back, the family moved to Alberta. Once they arrived here in 2009, Alex was never taken to see a doctor and never attended school. 

When paramedics were called to the Radita home in May 2013, they found Alex's near-skeletal body on his bed. 

Both Emil and Rodica were handed life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years.