A U.S. couple accused of beating their adopted 7-year-old Russian son to death may face the death penalty, Izvestia daily said on Tuesday.
Nathaniel Craver (Vanya Skorobogatov) died in August 2009 at a hospital in Pennsylvania of traumatic brain injury and malnutrition. Doctors discovered more than 80 external injuries on the boy's body, with 20 of them to his head.
The boy's adoptive parents, Michael and Nanette Craver, who were arrested in February, have denied all criminal charges brought against them, saying the boy consistently hit himself. According to the couple, Nathaniel died after hitting his head on a pellet stove.
Jennifer Russell, senior deputy prosecutor of York County, Pennsylvania, was quoted by Izvestia as saying at a court hearing on Monday that prosecutors would seek capital punishment for the Cravers.
Judge John S. Kennedy postponed court proceedings for June 14 to allow the Cravers to find an attorney qualified to represent them in a death penalty case, the paper said.
Izvestia quoted observers as saying the Cravers could avoid capital punishment if they plead guilty.
Nathaniel and his twin sister Elizabeth (Dasha) were adopted by the Cravers in 2003. The BBC has reported that Elizabeth is safe.
This is not the first incident of a Russian adopted child being killed by U.S. adoptive parents. Since 1991, a total of 17 Russian children have died in the U.S. as a result of beating or negligence, according to official Russian statistics.
MOSCOW, May 25 (RIA Novosti)
