Police lay murder charges against pastor in his infant son’s death
It was a celebration that was both a nod to the past and a demonstration of optimism for the future. On Aug. 8, 2015, several generations of the Garnett family gathered to mark the 100-year anniversary of their original homestead near the hamlet of Carseland, east of Calgary.
Along with receiving their Alberta Century Farm and Ranch Award, the family was also celebrating a new addition.
“How wonderful it was to see young and old, farmers, town members and friends catching up and sharing stories,” wrote a reporter with the Strathmore Standard newspaper.
“It was delightful to meet the newest member of the clan, Cyrus Nel, son of Leah (Garnett) and Dan Nel.”
Less than three weeks later, joy would turn to sorrow with the announcement of the sudden death of the beautiful boy. As members of such tight-knit communities always do, they rallied around Leah and Daniel Nel, with that same local newspaper announcing, “An angel has left too soon,” and directing its community readers to donate to the Cyrus Nel Fund to assist the bereaved parents.
On Friday, Insp. Don Coleman stood at a podium at Calgary police headquarters to announce that second-degree murder charges have been laid in the death of the baby. The accused: Cyrus’s 31-yearold father, an associate pastor at Calgary’s Rockyview Alliance Church.
While the unnatural death of an infant has the power to rattle the greater community and, indeed, an entire country, it no doubt has shaken the couple’s community of relatives and friends, along with Daniel Nel’s church community, with a depth and intensity that is unparalleled.
If the charges are proven in a court of law, those supporters could find anger replacing sorrow.
The Nels’ only child was declared dead a day after a 911 call from their Taradale home brought paramedics there on Aug. 31, 2015.
The celebration of his short life was held at Rockyview Alliance, where the father had ministered since 2013.
Two months later, Daniel Nel wrote on Facebook about his loss:
“As his father I wanted to teach him how to ride his first bike, Leah wanted to take him swimming …. On a deeper level, we wanted to see our son grow up into a man of integrity, a man of courage, and a man who loved God more than anything.”
There has been “no plausible explanation” for the child’s injuries, said Coleman, before telling reporters he couldn’t divulge any of those details.
While there was no one available to comment at Rockyview Alliance Church, where parishioners had helped raise funds for the Nels, an emailed statement was released Friday from the parent organization of his church.
“Because of this development and the gravity of the charge, Dan will no longer be able to perform ministry duties for the foreseeable future,” wrote Doug Balzer, on behalf of the Western Canadian District of the Christian and Missionary Alliance.
“And therefore on May 12 we suspended his licence to act as a minister … We remain in prayer for all involved in this situation.”
At the Nels’ two-storey home in Taradale, there is a welcome mat at the front door but no sign of the woman whose baby died and whose husband is now sitting in a Calgary jail, awaiting his first court appearance May 24.
“They are a very nice couple,” says their next-door neighbour, a grandfather who remembers seeing Leah Nel and her baby sunning in their backyard on a blanket that summer of 2015. “There were four or five vehicles there yesterday, with people moving bags and boxes out.”
In time, the details of how little Cyrus died will become public. For now, though, the only certainty is that for one of the youngest members of a pioneering Alberta farm family, hope for the future has been stolen, in a most tragic way.