FURTHER DELAYS
Charges stall inquiry
Alberta’s justice minister says a fatality inquiry into the death of a four-year-old Indigenous girl — who was removed from life support in 2014 after arriving in hospital with catastrophic head injuries — won’t proceed while there are active court proceedings related to the case.
“You want to avoid a situation where there’s any potential prejudice,” Kathleen Ganley said Tuesday, explaining the fatality review board is responsible for launching an inquiry.
Police have charged Serenity’s caregivers — a great aunt and great uncle in their mid 50s — jointly with one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life between May 3, 2013, and Sept. 18, 2014. The RCMP said the specific injury that caused Serenity’s death wasn’t criminal.
“The Crown advised at this time these were the charges supported by the evidence,” RCMP Sgt. Jack Poitras said Tuesday, adding police won’t release more details about the case, such as the cause of death.
Serenity arrived at an Edmonton hospital on Sept. 18, 2014, with injuries including head trauma, severe hypothermia, serious malnutrition, and anal and genital bruising. She weighed less than 18 pounds when she died nine days later.
She had been in foster care before she was placed with the caregivers, who were granted guardianship despite reports of abuse. Child welfare then closed her file.
United Conservative Party children’s services critic Jason Nixon said someone needs to be held responsible for Serenity’s death.
“I was always flabbergasted as to why it has taken so long to lay charges in regards to her care,” he said Tuesday.
He emphasized the need to review the facts of the case to determine what “went terribly wrong.”
“The idea that this would remain blocked or secret forever is not acceptable to me,” he said. “There needs to be a proper fatality inquiry now.”
The Journal is not identifying the two accused to protect the identities of Serenity’s siblings, as stipulated by Alberta’s child welfare legislation.