Saturday 23 April 2011

FILICIDE: Manitoba: Winnipeg mom sentenced to 12 years for killing her daughter

WINNIPEG — A Winnipeg woman has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for killing her two-year-old daughter inside a Child and Family Services-approved shelter.
The 29-year-old accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter earlier this year and returned to court Tuesday morning to learn her fate.
The Winnipeg Free Press is not publishing her name so details about her extensive history with Child and Family Services (CFS) can be revealed.
She admitted to suffocating her daughter in June 2009 while living inside a women's shelter under the supervision of CFS, which had returned the girl to her care months earlier. She claims she was trying to stop her from crying and never meant to kill her.
The child suffered more than 30 separate injuries to "nearly every portion of the body" in the days before dying. They include several bite marks to her legs and severe bruising on her vagina as a result of being kicked so hard it left a footprint impression.
The mother killed her daughter by placing a hand over her mouth and holding it there for up to two minutes, court was told.
"This was the manifestation of unspeakable brutality and torture," Queen's Bench Chief Justice Glenn Joyal said Tuesday.
After her child went limp, the mother placed her in a crib and left the room. She sat in her suite at the Native Women's Transition Centre for several hours. Her boyfriend called later that night from Headingley jail, where he was an inmate, and she confessed to what she'd done to their daughter.
The boyfriend urged her to call 911, but she refused. He called the centre and told them what happened. The night supervisor found the girl, called 911 and began CPR. But it was too late.
The mother was arrested and attempted to commit suicide in an interview room by using a string from her sweatpants to hang herself, court was told.
The Crown had asked for the 12 year sentence, while the woman was seeking just five years behind bars. She was given double-time credit of 40 months for the 20 months she has already spent in custody, leaving her with another eight years, eight months on her sentence.
In October 2007, Awasis CFS agency seized the girl after she was born. It obtained a three-month order of guardianship that was extended several times.
By December 2008, CFS was supporting the return of the child to her mother. A 12-month supervision order was granted that was set to expire in December 2009. It required the mother to live at the treatment centre under CFS supervision.
The woman's three other children were seized by CFS. Two older children were made permanent wards of CFS.
She's had a tragic life, defence lawyer Steve Brennan told court. She saw her mother stab her father to death at a drinking party when she was a child. She and her siblings spent years in care and were abused and neglected.
She suffers from chronic post-traumatic stress disorder, drug and alcohol addiction and borderline personality disorder.
http://www.globalwinnipeg.com/world/Winnipeg+sentenced+years+killing+daughter/4648289/story.html#ixzz1KNelQcBd

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