Alta. woman sentenced in toddler’s death

A woman who was sentenced to 8 1/2 years in prison for her role in the death of a toddler found outside an Edmonton church says she’s sorry to everyone she hurt.

But she could not explain why she did what she did.

“I don’t know why,” TashaLee Mack said between sobs at her sentencing hearing Monday in the Court of Queen’s Bench. “It was like an out-of-body experience.

“I don’t know why I did it.

It’s not me. I love kids.”

Mack, 28, was convicted last November of manslaughter for the death of 19-month-old Anthony Joseph Raine, who was found dead outside Good Shepherd Anglican Church in April 2017.

His father, Joey Crier, was found guilty of manslaughter in a separate trial.

Mack was sentenced Monday by Justice Rob Graesser.

“There is no doubt that the act that killed Anthony was brutal,” he said in delivering the sentence.

Graesser said Mack was convicted for failing to take steps to protect Anthony and in failing to take him for medical attention.

“These were not fleeting things,” he said.

Mack’s trial had heard that Anthony, who was being cared for by her and Crier, went from being a chunky, happy boy to “skin and bones” in a matter of months.

Court was told he suffered abuse before a fatal blow to his head and his abandonment behind the church.

There was no evidence Mack struck Anthony, but Graesser said the woman consciously decided not to seek medical advice and instead spent hours “finding a place to dump Anthony dead or alive.”