In Rare Move, Edmonton Police Request Crown Review Plea Deal in 8-Year-Old Child’s Death

An Edmonton Police Service vehicle in Edmonton, on Aug. 1, 2023. The Canadian Press/Jason Franson

Edmonton Police Service (EPS) says it’s taking the unprecedented step of asking Crown prosecutors to reconsider a plea deal with a woman accused in the death of an eight-year-old child in Alberta.

The police department sent a letter to provincial assistant deputy justice minister Kim Goddard on Sept. 8, requesting a reevaluation of a plea deal for manslaughter charges in connection with the “the horrific murder of a child.” The letter said the accused was expected to plead down from first-degree murder to manslaughter on Sept. 10.

It was also copied to Justice Minister Mickey Amery and included a cover letter signed by interim police chief Warren Driechel.

The letter says that if the plea deal goes ahead, EPS will release details of the case to the public “so they can properly assess whether this persecution and plea agreement were conducted appropriately.”

“Our position is that to allow this plea deal to go ahead would be to bring the administration of justice into disrepute and constitute a significant miscarriage of justice,” Megan Hackewich, executive director of legal and regulatory services division, wrote in the letter, while asking for a review of the decision.

EPS said the case is one of “extreme child abuse and ultimate homicide of a young Indigenous girl.”

The 8-year-old was reported missing in April 2023 and her body was found days later south of Edmonton.

The name of the child and the accused cannot be released due to a publication ban.

Alberta Crown Prosecution Service spokesperson Michelle Davio told The Epoch Times in an email that a fundamental principle of justice was for every accused person to have a fair trial and “preservation of the integrity of the judicial process.”

Davio said public commentary on a matter before the courts “can risk prejudicing this right.”

She added that it would be “inappropriate” for the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service or the ministry of justice  to comment because the case is still before the courts.

Hackewich noted, however, that there would be no jury to taint if there is a plea deal rather than a trial, making the release of information a non-issue.

Case in Question

Edmonton police went a city home to conduct a child welfare check on April 24, 2023, according to an EPS release.

Officers were unable to locate the child, and police said there were “suspicious circumstances,” prompting an investigation by the homicide division. The child’s body was found five days later on April 29 on Samson Cree Nation in Maskwacis, about 96 kilometres south of Edmonton.

An autopsy determined the child died of blunt impact trauma and the case was deemed a homicide.

Police arrested a 27-year-old woman in the case and charged her with first-degree murder and indignity to a body. Four others were also charged with indignity to a body as well as with accessory to first-degree murder.

Hackewich noted in the letter that police “conducted an extensive investigation obtaining significant evidence” in the case, which she said would justify a first-degree murder charge.

Comparable Case

The letter compares the case to another that occurred in 2012, involving a 2-year-old child referred to as Baby M.

Baby M and her twin sister were found starving and emaciated in a south Edmonton home in May of 2012, weighing just 13 and 16 pounds respectively. Baby M was later taken off life support in the hospital.

Both the mother and father in the case pleaded guilty to manslaughter, aggravated assault, and failing to provide the necessities of life.

Hackewich noted in the Baby M case the Crown had been asking for a 23-to-25-year jail sentence, while the defence wanted 7.5 years to 16 years in jail. The court gave both the mother and father in the Baby M case jail sentences of 15 years, which was less than the Crown asked for, and on the higher end of what the defence wanted.

Hackewich said in the current case involving the 8-year-old, the sentence agreed to by the Crown is “notably equivalent to the lowest end of the defence submissions in Baby M” despite “egregious evidence” and one-third of what the Crown sought in Baby M’s case.

“Therefore, we respectfully request that you use your authority, as confirmed by the Supreme Court...to review the strength of the evidence and the seriousness of the case,” she wrote. 

The Canadian Press contributed to this report.