Doctor Testifies in Disabled Girl’s Death

The disease wastes away muscles, curves the spine and causes severe vision problems.

But myotonic dystrophy is not known to cause the type of malnutrition afflicting rail-thin Lindsay Gentry when she died at age 15 in 1996, an expert witness testified Monday in the retrial of her parents.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen a patient with myotonic dystrophy suffering from malnutrition,” said Dr. Thomas Anderson, a professor who runs the Muscular Dystrophy Clinic at Harbor-UCLA Medical Center.

“I would be concerned there’s something else going on,” said Anderson, testifying after examining a photo--taken a few months before the girl’s death in February 1996--that showed nobby legs resembling matchsticks.

Michael and Kathleen “Katrina” Gentry are on trial facing charges of involuntary manslaughter, child endangerment and conspiracy for allegedly failing to provide enough food for their daughter, who stood 4-feet-10 and weighed 44 pounds at the time of her death.

The prosecution in the trial before Los Angeles County Superior Court Judge John S. Fisher contends the couple physically abused and neglected the girl over a period of years.

Defense attorneys for the Lake Los Angeles couple said the girl died from her disease.

The Gentrys provided food for Lindsay and spent tens of thousands of dollars on her medical care, defense attorneys said. Addressing the allegations of abuse, the attorneys said the girl fell often because of her unsteady gait and, they said, the teen was known to lie.

Last year, a jury deadlocked on whether the Gentrys were guilty of murder.

The Gentrys have steadfastly maintained their innocence, rejecting at least three proposed plea bargains.

Rather than risk 10 years in prison if convicted on all counts, the parents were offered a deal by which they would go free if they pleaded guilty to child endangerment.

The couple rejected the offer because, according to their attorney, they do not want to admit to something they feel they did not do.

On Monday, Anderson, who testified at the Gentrys’ first trial, said malnutrition could result if the disease makes swallowing difficult.

In Lindsay’s case, however, a test performed a month before she died showed she had no difficulty swallowing, Anderson said when questioned by Deputy Dist. Atty. Kathleen Cady.

Two former teachers of the severely disabled girl testified Monday that Lindsay seemed so hungry at times that they heard her stomach growl. Consequently, they tried to feed her, the teachers said.

Patricia Turner, who taught Lindsay in a special-education class in 1992-93, said she bought the girl a special nutritional drink to help her gain weight.

“It seemed to revitalize her a bit,” Turner said.

The girl, who had been lethargic, seemed more energetic and participated in more activities after those drinks, Turner said.

Turner testified she also noticed a seesawing in Lindsay’s weight. On Fridays, after a week of the nutritional supplement, Lindsay gained two pounds but invariably lost the weight after a weekend at home, Turner said.

After a month, Katrina Gentry told the teacher to stop because the girl was “on a special diet,” Turner said.

Lawyers for the Gentrys sought to portray them as caring, active parents who attended all parent-teacher meetings.

Michael Gentry insisted on a special Braille machine for his daughter and came to school for a show-and-tell presentation, teacher Diane Hogaboan said when questioned by defense attorneys M. David Houchin and Patrick Thomason. The father also came to school to show teachers how to put a back brace on Lindsay, Hogaboan said.

Lindsay was also stubborn and a slow eater, Hogaboan said. “Sometimes we spent two hours” to get the girl to eat her lunch.

In November 1993, Lindsay came to school with a swollen lip and bloody nose, Hogaboan testified. “She said her father hit her . . . because she dropped keys into her brailler,” Hogaboan said, adding that she notified the principal and filed a report with the county.

The Los Angeles County Department of Children and Family Services looked into the child-abuse complaints but found the allegations to be mostly unsubstantiated or unfounded.

All the complaints were eventually closed, with no action taken against the parents.

Hogaboan snapped the photo of Lindsay that was displayed in court in September 1995.

“I was having trouble believing what I was seeing,” the teacher testified. “She was thinner than I had ever seen her. Emaciated is the word that comes to mind.”

Lindsay, who had begun home-schooling, never returned to her class. It was the last day Hogaboan saw the girl alive, the teacher testified.