OREGON CITY, Ore. – Prosecutors in the case against two Oregon City parents who did not seek medical care for their now-deceased toddler have called their last witness ahead of schedule.

They did not explain why, but prosecutors may have decided they proved their case with medical testimony and the taped interviews of the defendants.

Ava's Worthington’s parents, Raylene and Carl Brent Worthington, are charged under Oregon’s 10-year-old faith healing law because they prayed for Ava instead of getting her medical attention.

In essence, the law prohibits reliance on faith healing when a child’s life is at risk.
    
Monday afternoon, a pediatric ear, nose and throat specialist testified it was a huge growth on Ava Worthington’s neck that led to her death.
         
The Worthington’s are members of Followers of Christ Church, which believes in prayer over modern medicine.

Dr. James Cuyler testified that the growth closed Ava's airway and made it impossible for her to breathe before she died.

During opening statement, the lead prosecutor in the trial said the case was simple.

"Absolutely no medical care was provided to this little girl," Greg Horner told the jury.

The parents of 15-month-old Ava Worthington sought no medical help for a huge growth on her neck and symptoms of pneumonia for weeks - even months - until Ava died.
    
But defense attorneys told jurors another story. "Mr. and Mrs. Worthington are devoted, loving parents,” Greg Horner said.

Defense attorneys claim the Worthington’s are victims of vindictive prosecution targeting members of the Followers of Christ Church and that Carl and Raylene Worthington had no idea how sick Ava really was.

A county death investigator has described what he saw at the home: hundreds of church followers but no doctors.

“This is not a-typical,” Deputy Medical Examiner Jeff Mayer said, “this is customary when we respond to deaths within the church."

In videotaped interviews played by prosecutors, Raylene Worthington said she thought Ava was getting better. "She acted more happy and she was settled down,” Worthington said in taped testimony.

But doctor after doctor testified for the prosecution that those last hours of Ava's life that were “filled with calmness” was proof her body had given up.

"High levels of carbon dioxide sort of put you to sleep, “ Dr. Sayanora Mato said, “and you breathe more calmly, and you die.” Mato is an infectious disease pediatrician.
   
"She's tiring out,” Dr. Leonhardt, a Legacy Cares pediatrician testified about Ava's last hours, “she's struggled so long that she can't struggle any more."

All of the doctors testified that if the Worthingtons would have called an ambulance and sought care even a few hours before Ava died, she likely could have been saved.

Defense attorneys for the Worthingtons called Carl Worthington’s mother to the stand and she testified that Ava was healthy and happy in the days leading up to her death.

The defense is expected to call more witnesses Tuesday and argue that the proceeding impinge on the Worthington’s constitutional religious freedoms.

They are also expected to call their own medical experts who will testify that a hidden infection the parents did not detect could have killed Ava.