GLADSTONE, Ore. - A 16-year-old member of a faith healing church died of uremic heart failure caused by a stricture in his urinary tract, according to autopsy results.

The urinary tract condition could have been fixed with a catheter, said Dr. Cliff Nelson, the state Medical Examiner. The outpatient procedure is routine.

Instead, 16-year-old Neal Beagley's urinary tract became inflamed and closed off. He was unable to urinate, which made his bladder and kidneys stop functioning, the autopsy showed. Toxins backed up into his blood stream.

Beagley had started complaining about stomach aches and shortness of breath last week. The family told police he did not want medical attention.

Gladstone police said relatives and church members told them the teenager refused treatment for the illness, as he was entitled to do under Oregon law.

Officers and a deputy medical examiner were called to the family's house about an hour after the boy's death late Tuesday afternoon, said Sgt. Lynne Benton of the Gladstone Police Department.

The Major Crimes Team responded to the scene to investigate.

Benton said the teen’s family was with him when he died.

Like all members of the religious order, Beagley did not receive medical care. His condition worsened Sunday and members of the church gathered for prayer, Benton said.

The family belongs to the Oregon City Followers of Christ Church. The church is a fundamentalist Christian denomination that recently made headlines after two members were arrested and accused of using prayer instead of medical care to try to cure their gravely ill daughter.

Second death at church in recent months

In March, the boy's 15-month-old cousin, Ava Worthington, died at home from bronchial pneumonia and a blood infection.

Her parents, Carl and Raylene Worthington, also failed to contact a doctor and are awaiting trial on criminal charges in her death.

No one had been arrested or charged with any crime in the latest case as of Wednesday morning, but the information will be forwarded to the Clackamas County District Attorney's Office for review, Benton said.

Oregon lawmakers passed new laws striking down legal shields for faith-healing parents after several children from the Followers of Christ church died in the 1990s.

The Oregon City church is not associated with a mainstream denomination.