PARENTS GUILTY IN FATAL STARVATION.

Byline: Jesse Hiestand Staff Writer

In a case that drew national attention, a Lake Los Angeles couple was convicted Tuesday of fatally starving their severely handicapped daughter, who weighed just 44 pounds when she died at age 15.

The girl's mother, Kathleen ``Katrina'' Gentry, 46, slumped forward in her wheelchair and wept as the Van Nuys Superior Court jury read its verdict, concluding nearly 13 days of deliberation. Appearing composed, her husband, Michael Gentry, 55, caressed her back and kissed her on the cheek.

The couple, who insisted their daughter Lindsay died of a congenital wasting disease, were taken into custody and face up to 10 years in prison when sentenced July 6.

``The jury was able to see through the veil of her disease and recognize that her condition was not just a result of the disease but because of something much more serious happening at home,'' said Los Angeles County Deputy District Attorney Kathy Cady.

Family members were visibly upset.

``They just convicted two people who are innocent,'' said Michael Gentry's cousin, Jack Nicolai, while leaving the courthouse. ``The jury does not know them. They could only act on what evidence they were given.''

More than two years after Lindsay died in February 1996, the Gentrys were charged with having murdered her. They claimed her death was the result of myotonic dystrophy, a congenital disorder characterized by wasting away of muscles and mental deficiency.

In May 1999, jurors deadlocked in a murder trial, with some saying manslaughter would have been a more appropriate charge.

Tried again, the Gentrys were each found guilty on three counts: involuntary manslaughter; child abuse, neglect or endangerment; and conspiracy to commit child abuse or endangerment.

The jury of six men and six women declined to comment after the trial.

Judge John Fisher said the sentence will range from probation, with no more time in custody than the 14 months already served, to about 10 years in prison. The couple was out on bail during trial.

Kathleen Gentry's lawyer, Lyle Middleton, said the Gentrys were so insistent on their innocence that they rejected a plea bargain that would have kept them out of jail if they had pleaded guilty to a child-abuse charge.

``They did not want to plead guilty to something they didn't do. They knew the downside, but their position was and still is that they didn't do it,'' Middleton said.

Kathleen Gentry, whose ailments require her to use a wheelchair, was hospitalized after the verdict with chest pains.

The verdict outraged Lancaster residents who supported the Gentrys.

Lancaster paralegal Mary Ellen Spalding said she has spoken to several parents of disabled children who now fear they could face prosecution if their child gets sick or dies.

``It's frightening that you can love and worship your child for 15 years, and she dies from multiple illnesses, and you get charged with murder and ultimately manslaughter,'' said Spalding, who worked with the Gentrys when they wanted to sue a hospital for causing Lindsay's death. ``They did everything in the world for that child - to the point that they practically spoiled her rotten.''

Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department homicide Sgt. Ray Rodriguez said the prosecution focused on how the Gentrys starved the teen-ager.

``The case we presented this time was much more streamlined. We really focused on the malnutrition end of it,'' Rodriguez said.

An autopsy found pneumonia and marasmus - progressive emaciation caused by a lack of food - as causes of her death.

According to prosecutors, a pattern of abuse, including beatings, began as early as when Lindsay was 6 and teachers and school nurses started noticing bruises, welts, black eyes and bleeding on the young girl's body. A witness also said Michael Gentry once bragged that parents have the right to kill their child.

The Gentrys' defense team said Lindsay's disease usually claims its victims by age 15.

CAPTION(S):

photo

Photo: Kathleen Gentry is taken to an ambulance after she and her husband were convicted of involuntarily killing their daughter.

Hans Gutknecht/Staff Photographer