California IN BRIEF : REDDING : D.A. Probes Parents’ Role in Baby’s Death

The Shasta County district attorney will investigate the death of a 4-month-old boy who died of meningitis after his parents tried to heal him by praying rather than taking him to a doctor, police said. Detective John Severson said a neighbor who was concerned about the baby’s lingering illness summoned Redding police officers to the apartment of the Northrup family, but he was dead when they arrived. Police said the baby’s father, Earl Northrup, a 36-year-old unemployed logger, his wife, Catherine, 24, and members of their church had prayed for Jordan Cory Northrup during six days of illness. Earl Northrup said his church, the General Assembly Church of the First Born, believes in healing through faith rather than by medical treatment.