A Calgary man has been given a 14-year jail sentence for beating and killing his girlfriend’s 3-year-old daughter for interrupting him when he was playing a video game.
Justin Bennett was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Ivy Wick and sentenced to 14 years, but he can apply for parole after about eight years due to credit for time served.
Mr. Bennett originally told police that he thought the child had hit her head after tripping and falling while she was running to her bedroom. However, members of the medical team said that type of incident was unlikely to account for “the catastrophic nature” of her injuries.
In order to determine whether Ms. Wick’s injuries were in fact inflicted, police launched a “Mr. Big” operation targeting Mr. Bennett and the child’s mother, Helen Woodsworth.
“At the conclusion of that operation, on September 6, 2018, Mr. Bennett provided a statement to an undercover police officer that he had inflicted the injuries on Ivy that ultimately led to her death, which was admitted at trial,” the court record says.
Mr. Bennett admitted to punching the child in the head, throwing her against a wall, and then tripping her where she hit her head again, the court document says.
“I wasn’t trying to hit her head,“ he told an undercover officer, adding he just wanted to ”shut her up.”
“All’s I can say, I did it. Pretty much killed my daughter. I inflicted her injuries.”
Court of King’s Bench Justice Blaire Nixon handed down the sentence on Feb. 16.
“Although Mr. Bennett was not her biological father, he acted as a caregiver and stepfather and Ivy relied on him and trusted him,” he said.
“Mr. Bennett wanted to play video games instead of parenting a three-year-old child.”
While the Crown argued for a 15-year sentence, the defence asked for 13 years.
“A sentence of this type must reflect society’s revulsion for crimes committed against vulnerable children,” the judge said. “The breach of trust was abhorrent.”
Ms. Woodsworth gave a victim impact statement at the sentencing where she talked about the pain she suffered over the loss of her child.
“I cry myself to sleep every night blaming myself for not being able to protect her from you,” she said, according to media reports. “You took my light away and left me in a dark nightmare that I now have to carry on my shoulders for the rest of my life.”
