Life Support

In what lawyers say is one of the few cases of its kind to come before a court, a judge in Delaware County may be asked this week by the lawyer for a 20-month-old boy to allow doctors to disconnect the child from life support over the objections of his parents. Shirron Lewis of Chester has been sustained by a ventilator for about 14 months as he has lain comatose in what doctors say is a persistent vegetative state. He is blind and deaf and is unable to swallow on his own. He reacts only to severe pain.

As his 15-year-old stepdaughter, wounded in a drive-by shooting, lay on life support, Pete Rodriguez paced outside his South Philadelphia home, yards away from the crime scene. Rodriguez, 29, said he bought his rowhouse on Watkins Street just this summer. But because his stepchild, Veronica Rios, and four other teenagers were wounded early yesterday in what neighbors and officials acknowledge is a drug-infested neighborhood, he now plans to move his family as soon as possible. "She just wanted to have a good time, hanging out with friends," he said.

Nancy Crews, the 11-year-old Nicetown girl found unconscious last week in the deep end of a North Philadelphia swimming pool, died yesterday. Crews, who friends said had a learning disability, was removed from life support and was pronounced dead at 1 p.m., according to a spokeswoman at Temple University Children's Medical Center. The child's family wished "to thank the community for its support during this difficult time," according to a statement released by hospital authorities.

Eric and Yolanda Erwin made two painful trips yesterday. One was to the city morgue to identify the body of their 13-year-old son, Cordell, who was shot and killed while playing craps with three others on a West Philadelphia street corner Wednesday night. The other was to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, where their other son, Eric, 15, wounded in the same shooting on the 4200 block of Fairmount Avenue, was being kept alive on life support systems. He had been shot three times.

A Rutgers University junior who suffered serious head injuries when he fell down a flight of stairs after several hours of drinking was removed from life support early yesterday. Jason Greco, 20, a Riverton native and former captain of the Palmyra High School football team, was declared clinically dead Sunday morning at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick. But he remained on life support until at least four of his organs were donated to others, family members said.

The withdrawing and withholding of life-supporting medical technologies have become commonplace in American hospitals - with doctors frequently deciding on their own if and when such treatments should be ended. Sometimes, the doctors even make life-ending decisions over patients' or families' objections, according to a new study by researchers from the University of Pennsylvania Medical Center. "There has been a revolution in the past 15 years in how doctors and patients view and use life-support technologies," said Dr. David A. Asch, an assistant professor at Penn's School of Medicine.

Police Officer Jose M. Ortiz, who was critically injured when struck by a police cruiser Monday afternoon, was taken off life support last night at the request of his wife, officials said. Raj Narayn, a neurosurgeon at Temple University Hospital, said the decision was made shortly before 9 p.m. by Ortiz's wife, Theresa. He was pronounced dead at 11:45 p.m. Doctors said they expected to begin harvesting the 29-year-old Ortiz's organs for donation during the night. Ortiz's condition had worsened considerably yesterday.

WOODBURY - A 43-year-old Brooklawn woman has been indicted on a first-degree murder charge in the antifreeze poisoning death of her grandmother-in-law. The grand jury returned the indictment of Anne Castagna this week. Castagna is accused of poisoning 88-year-old Mary Groatman, while Groatman was at a rehabilitation center in Deptford Township. Groatman was found unconscious after Castagna visited her Aug. 19, 2012, authorities said. Groatman died days later after she was taken off life support.

ANDREA FREEMAN, 36, of East Germantown, surrendered yesterday on homicide charges in connection with the death of her 2 1/2-year-old foster son, Anthony Williams. The badly injured child was taken off life support on March 2. Her attorney, Ari Moldovsky, (above) said the boy died in a "tragic accident" when he apparently fell from a toilet. He said his client and her husband Greg "are being very strong. "

A 20-year-old Camden City man who had been on life support since he was shot in October died Monday at Kindred Hospital in Philadelphia. Jimmy Cortes, who was outside a bar around 3 a.m. Oct. 21 on 25th Street between High and Federal Streets, was reportedly involved in a dispute with another man over a woman, according to a source with knowledge of the situation. - Andrew Seidman