3 babies, 6 years
Prince Edward Island woman sentenced to 72 months for triple infanticide
A P.E.I. woman has been sentenced to six years in jail for three counts of infanticide in a disturbing case that shocked and horrified Islanders.
On Monday, provincial court Judge John Douglas sentenced Shannon Dawn Rayner to 24 months on each of the infanticide charges to be served consecutively.
Rayner had pleaded guilty to the charges after a psychiatric assessment concluded she was fit to stand trial and she didn’t meet the conditions of being found not criminally responsible.
She was also sentenced to
12 months for concealing evidence of birth but will serve that time concurrently.
The judge gave her 13.5 months credit for time remanded in custody as well as one year she spent hospitalized.
The Crown had sought a sentence of 7.5 years, and the defence was seeking three years less time served.
The maximum penalty for infanticide is five years in prison meaning Rayner could have received up to 15 years in total on the three infanticide convictions.
“In this case, the sentence is not as important as the message sent,’’ said Douglas.
The judge told the courtroom that this was the most serious case he had seen in 23 years.
The agreed statement of facts detail Rayner gave birth to a baby girl she wrapped in a blanket and kept in her room for about one month before placing it in a plastic tote she put in her basement.
The court also heard about medical care Rayner received during two of her pregnancies, along with missed appointments that included those for planned C-sections.
In 2016, Rayner told a doctor she had delivered a baby boy at the IWK Hospital in Halifax and had given it to a family member.
A few months later, Rayner told the same doctor she had a miscarriage.
Charlottetown police started their investigation into two of Rayner’s pregnancies on March 21, 2017, because of information from obstetrics and gynecology services and Health P.E.I.
Rayner also initially told police she was travelling to Florida in November 2013 when she had a miscarriage in the bathroom of the resort unit where they were staying.
During a different interview with the police, Rayner said she delivered that baby, who she named Bentley, in February 2014 while she was home alone and she tried to perform CPR on him.
Rayner told police she dressed the baby in a diaper, clothed him, wrapped him in a blanket, placed him in a plastic bag and put him in the garbage bin.
During the same interview, Rayner said she delivered a baby boy in November 2016 at her home while her mother, sister and two children were asleep.
Rayner said she named that baby Ezra, and he was crying for about 15-20 minutes while she cradled and tried to quiet him. She also told police she put a diaper on the baby, wrapped him in a blanket, left him on the bathroom floor and locked the door.
Rayner went to work the next morning and said she disposed of the body in a garbage bin two days later.
That version of events differed from her initial interview with police when she said she delivered the baby while sitting on a toilet and couldn’t tell if he was alive.
In the initial interview, Rayner told police she flushed the baby down the toilet after several attempts.
Rayner’s mother contacted the police in September 2018 to report she found the remains of two infants in plastic totes in her basement.
Her mother contacted the police again in May 2019 to report finding the remains of another infant in a mini barn on her property.
Rayner, who was present for the sentencing, showed little emotion during the proceedings.
However, her mother told her she loved her as she was led from the courtroom.