‘I will never forgive her’

Murdered girl’s dad speaks at ex-wife’s sentencing

The father of a nine-year-old girl who was drugged and killed by her mother told the woman’s sentencing hearing Friday that he will never forgive her for the pain she has caused.

Duane Lucius said he can’t understand how his former wife could do such a thing to her own child.

“I try to be strong for my family and friends,” Lucius told a Calgary court. “I feel upset (about) how someone could do something like this to a little, innocent girl with a whole life ahead of her.”

Laura Coward, 50, pleaded guilty last month to the seconddegree murder of Amber Lucius and is facing an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.

Holding a picture of Amber, Lucius told court he misses his daughter’s warm hugs and thinks about her every day.

“I gave her mom time to spend with her, but Laura never thought it was enough. I would like to know how a person could do such a thing. I will never forgive her and I will never forget my daughter Amber because she meant a lot to me.”

The girl was reported missing Aug. 31, 2014, and her mother was arrested two days later near Sundre in west-central Alberta. She was standing outside a burned truck in which her daughter’s body was discovered.

Coward had Amber for the weekend and, on a trip to a remote area, gave her a toxic but non-lethal dose of a prescription sleeping medication. She mistakenly thought Amber was dead and filled the truck – with Amber unconscious inside – with paper and plastic totes before setting it on fire with a propane torch and closing the door.