Police fail to notify public of infant’s 2016 murder
EPS blames ‘long delay’ between child’s death and laying of charge
Edmonton police did not release any public information about a murder charge laid in a baby girl’s 2016 death because of “unusual circumstances,” a spokeswoman says.
Brandon James Calahoo, 22, pleaded guilty to criminal negligence causing the death of Raelyn Supernant in Edmonton’s Court of Queen’s Bench on Wednesday.
Supernant was taken off life support and died in hospital in 2016 after Calahoo shook her and left her in her crib for several hours without medical attention, according to an agreed statement of facts.
Calahoo was originally charged with aggravated assault. An autopsy was completed shortly after the baby ’s death, but it wasn’t until Jan. 11, 2017, following additional testing, that a medical examiner’s report found the baby’s cause of death was cranial trauma. The charge against Calahoo was then upgraded to murder.
However, though the Edmonton Police Service updated their tally of 2016 homicides to include Raelyn’s death, the force did not issue a news release notifying the public of the charges.
In a telephone interview Wednesday, EPS spokeswoman Cheryl Voordenhout said the information was not deliberately withheld, but the situation was the result of the “unusual circumstances and long delay” in laying the murder charge. Voordenhout said police plan to release a statement about the case Thursday.
Normally, Edmonton police notify the public when a homicide occurs. Traditionally, police have also released the names of both the victim and the accused, though recently the force has begun withholding victims’ identities in some cases, saying naming them “would not serve an investigative purpose.”
According to the agreed statement of facts, Raelyn was born May 26, 2016. Calahoo was dating Raelyn’s mother, and the three of them were living in a basement suite in northeast Edmonton on July 25, 2016. That morning, at about 5:30 a.m., the baby’s crying woke up Calahoo. He shook her with both hands by the body and head, then placed her back in her crib, though she was “unresponsive,” court heard.
A few hours later, Calahoo told the baby’s mother to leave her in the crib, though the infant was still unresponsive. It wasn’t until that afternoon, when a friend observed the baby’s symptoms, that the friend took Raelyn, the baby’s mother and Calahoo to the Stollery Children’s Hospital.
Initially, the mother and Calahoo said they believed Raelyn had suffered seizures. She was admitted and intubated. Tests determined there was “significant” hemorrhaging in the infant’s brain.
Two days later, Calahoo told a social worker at the hospital that he had an arm spasm while holding Raelyn, and that he dropped her and her head hit her crib. He said he shook her, “but not hard.”
The baby was removed from a respirator on July 28, 2016. Intravenous nutrition and fluids were withdrawn on Aug. 3, 2016, and she died five days later.
According to the agreed facts, another report prepared in the case stated that in addition to the head injuries, the baby had “multiple rib fractures which appeared to be older and of different ages.”
On Facebook, Calahoo had posted pictures of Raelyn after her birth, including one accompanied by a caption that said: “This little girl means the world to me.”
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 29.