MOUNT VERNON, Wash. – A few hours after a Mount Vernon judge ruled that a 14-year-old Jehovah's Witness sick with leukemia had the right to refuse a blood transfusion, even though that refusal might kill him, the boy died in a Seattle hospital.

Dennis Lindberg Jr. died Wednesday evening. He was of the Jehovah’s Witness faith, which prohibits transfusions of whole blood.

Lindberg’s legal guardians could have intervened, but they are also Jehovah’s Witness and they refused.

Without the transfusions, doctors said Lindberg could not withstand leukemia treatment.

"I've never felt this black robe being a heavier mantle than I do right now," Judge John Meyer said when he made the decision.

A lot of people who knew Dennis are questioning whether any 14-year-old should be able to make decisions of life and death.

Dennis was declared a "mature minor," allowing him to make the decision on his own. A judge could have forced the transfusions, but said there was no legal reason to do so.

"It is not the ruling I would have for my own child, and I have two children and four grandchildren, all of whom I adore ... but that is not my job here," said Judge Meyer.

According to bio-ethicist Doug Diekema, one element that can complicate cases like this is when patients say they will physically fight treatment.

The judge in this case says Dennis, once he was strong enough, would have needed to be restrained and sedated for transfusions.

Born to drug addicted parents, Lindberg moved into a Mount Vernon home with his aunt four years ago. He joined his aunt's faith and became a Jehovah's Witness.

He was diagnosed with leukemia on Nov. 8.