HUDSON – Steven Bennett and his partner Heidi Tranberg-Bennett were arraigned Monday afternoon in Columbia County Court for the December 2019 death of their 12-year-old daughter. District Attorney Paul Czajka personally appeared in court to arraign the couple on charges of manslaughter in the second degree.
Czajka’s office contends that on December 3, 2019, the couple’s daughter fell ill and 911 was notified. Deputies arrived along with New York State Police and the Chatham Rescue Squad. The medics transported the girl to Columbia Memorial Hospital and the patient was subsequently transferred to Albany Medical Center where she was placed on life support. The child was declared brain dead at which time the Department of Social Services took emergency custody and removed the girl from life support; she died on December 6.
A lengthy investigation into the child’s death was initiated by the sheriff’s office and state police. Sources say that two separate autopsies were conducted, both of which revealed that the girl suffered from undiagnosed chronic kidney disease.
Attorney Michael Sussman represents the parents and says that the prosecutor’s claim that the couple took reckless risks in failing to provide treatment for the undiagnosed condition is not true.
“We say they didn’t know of any such risk – they are deeply committed to their family and it is preposterous to argue that they knew it was a risk,” adding that his clients “acted to take the child to the hospital” when the illness progressed.
District Attorney Czajka arraigned the parents on an information, meaning the case was not presented to the grand jury. The two were arraigned before Judge Richard Koweek. The parents were released without bail and are scheduled to appear in Austerlitz justice court on Wednesday, November 4, to answer the charges.
In addition to the death of their one child, the parents have temporarily lost custody of their other three children and Sussman is fighting to get the children returned. “We want justice without delay,” said the attorney.
