WATCH: Father who refused medical treatment for his sick baby girl on religious grounds is astonished to find he may be jailed for life
Footage of a court hearing, into the death of a 10-month-old baby girl, has emerged which shows the reaction of the child's parents, who also happen to be the accused.
The Christian parents - Tatiana Fusari and Seth Welch - stared at the judge, as she read the charges of murder against them and the possibility of life imprisonment. While Fusari bursts into tears, Welch's jaw drops.
The duo has been accused of causing the death of their baby girl, who was found malnutrition and extremely dehydrated, by refusing to seek medical assistance for religious reasons.
Fusari and Welch, both 27, were charged with first-degree child abuse and felony murder over the death of little Mary, their daughter.
On Thursday, Welch dialed 911 to report he found his daughter, Mary, dead in her crib. When officers responded to the call, they found the baby with sunken eyes and cheeks. According to an autopsy on Friday, the cause of death was determined to be malnutrition and dehydration from neglect by her caregivers.
After an interrogation by authorities, the pair admitted to noticing their daughter's declining health almost a month before her death.
According to court documents, the parents, hailing from Cedar Springs, did not get professional help "for fear of having Child Protective Services called, lack of faith and trust in medical services and religious reasons."
Welch's Facebook is flooded with videos in which he rambles about CPS, a distrust of doctors, who he refers to as "priesthoods of the medical cult," and his religious beliefs. In one of the videos, he revealed how he refused vaccination for his children because "God is sovereign over disease."
On the day of his child's death, Welch wrote: "Heart is about shattered right now."
"Woke up to Mary dead in her bed this morning - this evening had our children removed and placed on 'no contact' because Tati and I are the worst parents ever - Thankfully they are with grandma and grandpa. Just numb inside right now. And I'm really enjoying the loving embrace of an isolation cell from the cops and government employees who keep assuring me 'they are only here to help,'" the post further read.
WOOD-TV reported that Welch made hand painted signs and nailed them to trees and a fence in his front porch in order to advertise his beliefs. One of the messages read: "Repent. Believe. Obey."
According to his Facebook post, when he refused to get his oldest daughter vaccinated, someone told the authorities about him.
"It didn't seem smart that you would be saving people who weren't the fittest," he said in a video. "If evolution believes in survival of the fittest, why are we vaccinating everybody? Shouldn't we just let the weak die off and let the strong survive?"
None of his children, including two older ones aged 2 and 4, have been vaccinated due to his beliefs.
The parents are being held without bond and are scheduled to appear in court once again on August 20, when they could face life imprisonment without the possibility of parole.