Teen chucklesGirl 14, appears in court charged with murder in the smothering death of a 3-year-old
By ROB LAMBERTI AND JONATHAN JENKINS, TORONTO SUN
Police investigators at a foster home in Welland where a 3-year-old boy was smothered to death. A 14-year-old girl has been charged. (Rob Lamberti, Sun)
WELLAND -- A 14-year-old girl charged with the first-degree smothering murder of a 3-year-old boy chuckled while speaking with her lawyer during a brief court hearing yesterday.
The teen was charged with what Niagara Regional Police allege was a premeditated killing after the toddler died in a Welland hospital Thursday.
The accused is a ward of the Niagara Region children's aid. The dead child was a ward of Haldimand-Norfolk children's aid.
MOVED TO HOME
The boy was killed a day after the teen was assigned to the Frazier St. foster home in Welland after being moved from the David S. Horne group home in Fonthill.
The teen, with shoulder-length brunette hair, wore a long-sleeved light lavender fleece top.
She pulled the sleeves down to hide handcuffs as she stood in the prisoner's box. She barely reached the shoulders of the special constables standing by her side.
She had a brief discussion with defence counsel John Lefurgey and smiled and gave a short laugh, exposing her braces, while accepting a business card.
"Yes," she responded in a loud and firm voice when the court clerk asked if she understood the allegation against her.
Justice of the Peace Meg Belcastro ordered the teen to return to the St. Catharines court next Friday. She is in custody at a Thorold juvenile facility.
An autopsy confirmed the boy was suffocated.
The boy's mother, 23, said she had hoped to get custody of her son and was distraught at his death. She said Haldimand-Norfolk Children's Aid Society took away the boy and her 4-year-old daughter who is in the care of her paternal grandmother in London.
"They told me I can't have them because, 'your house isn't clean and you have a history of depression'," she said
Children's aid should have protected him, she said.
"They have to be responsible, too," she said.
Brian Hillier of the Haldimand-Norfolk Children's Aid Society said: "We're just devastated by this. We're a smaller, rural agency and our staff have a very strong connection with our foster families and our kids in care."
He refused to say how long the boy had been in the agency's care.
"I can say he was comfortable and he knew those foster parents," Hillier said, adding he had "complete confidence" in the foster parents.
SOMETHING WENT WRONG
"Obviously something went completely wrong here," he said. "We're just at the beginning of all of this. We haven't even been able to speak to our foster mother.
"We'll be all over this and there may be things we do differently. Then there will be what the ministry does because they will have an intense look at both agencies."
Bill Charron, executive director of Family and Children's Services Niagara, said the teen has been a permanent ward of the society for about two years and had just been placed with the Welland foster family for one day.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the 3-year-old who was killed," Charron said.
"As for the young lady ... we are her parents. We are doing everything we can to be there with her and for her."
It's standard procedure that before any child is placed with a foster home, as much information as possible is passed on about the child's background and anticipated behaviour, Charron said.
"We have no reason to believe it wasn't (done in this case)."
By ROB LAMBERTI AND JONATHAN JENKINS, TORONTO SUN
Police investigators at a foster home in Welland where a 3-year-old boy was smothered to death. A 14-year-old girl has been charged. (Rob Lamberti, Sun)
WELLAND -- A 14-year-old girl charged with the first-degree smothering murder of a 3-year-old boy chuckled while speaking with her lawyer during a brief court hearing yesterday.
The teen was charged with what Niagara Regional Police allege was a premeditated killing after the toddler died in a Welland hospital Thursday.
The accused is a ward of the Niagara Region children's aid. The dead child was a ward of Haldimand-Norfolk children's aid.
MOVED TO HOME
The boy was killed a day after the teen was assigned to the Frazier St. foster home in Welland after being moved from the David S. Horne group home in Fonthill.
The teen, with shoulder-length brunette hair, wore a long-sleeved light lavender fleece top.
She pulled the sleeves down to hide handcuffs as she stood in the prisoner's box. She barely reached the shoulders of the special constables standing by her side.
She had a brief discussion with defence counsel John Lefurgey and smiled and gave a short laugh, exposing her braces, while accepting a business card.
"Yes," she responded in a loud and firm voice when the court clerk asked if she understood the allegation against her.
Justice of the Peace Meg Belcastro ordered the teen to return to the St. Catharines court next Friday. She is in custody at a Thorold juvenile facility.
An autopsy confirmed the boy was suffocated.
The boy's mother, 23, said she had hoped to get custody of her son and was distraught at his death. She said Haldimand-Norfolk Children's Aid Society took away the boy and her 4-year-old daughter who is in the care of her paternal grandmother in London.
"They told me I can't have them because, 'your house isn't clean and you have a history of depression'," she said
Children's aid should have protected him, she said.
"They have to be responsible, too," she said.
Brian Hillier of the Haldimand-Norfolk Children's Aid Society said: "We're just devastated by this. We're a smaller, rural agency and our staff have a very strong connection with our foster families and our kids in care."
He refused to say how long the boy had been in the agency's care.
"I can say he was comfortable and he knew those foster parents," Hillier said, adding he had "complete confidence" in the foster parents.
SOMETHING WENT WRONG
"Obviously something went completely wrong here," he said. "We're just at the beginning of all of this. We haven't even been able to speak to our foster mother.
"We'll be all over this and there may be things we do differently. Then there will be what the ministry does because they will have an intense look at both agencies."
Bill Charron, executive director of Family and Children's Services Niagara, said the teen has been a permanent ward of the society for about two years and had just been placed with the Welland foster family for one day.
"Our thoughts and prayers are with the family of the 3-year-old who was killed," Charron said.
"As for the young lady ... we are her parents. We are doing everything we can to be there with her and for her."
It's standard procedure that before any child is placed with a foster home, as much information as possible is passed on about the child's background and anticipated behaviour, Charron said.
"We have no reason to believe it wasn't (done in this case)."
