Crown wants 12 years for death of grandson
It will be another 46 days before a grandfather learns how long he will spend in prison for the manslaughter death of his 13-month-old grandson.
Brian Matthews, a 40-year-old long-haul trucker from Thorold, was convicted in January of manslaughter for violently shaking Kody Smart and causing his death.
Judge Joseph Nadel will give sentence May 24 after going over submissions from both sides, each of which was supported by case law. He also heard victim- impact statements Monday from Kody’s father Brett Smart, stepgrandfather Chris York and grandmother Pamela York.
In Ontario Court of Justice in St. Catharines, Crown attorney Cheryl Gzik asked Nadel to sentence Matthews to 10 to 12 years in prison.
Defence attorney Peter Barr asked for a sentence of five years or less.
“There is no question Mr. Matthews is going to the penitentiary,” Nadel said. “The question is how long.”
Gzik read Brett Smart’s statement into the record for him Monday.
“To never see Kody grow up is a devastating loss for me,” he wrote. “I had so many hopes and dreams for him. This is lost. Before Kody’s death, I felt like I was doing OK as a parent, but since his death, I’m left to struggle with my abilities. That’s not all on Brian. For a long time, I’ve been questioning my ability to protect my children and parent them. My inability to protect Kody left a mark.”
Smart wrote of his struggles to repair his life in the wake of Kody’s death. He said the verdict has helped him move forward. He even reached out to his father, who had a previous conviction for assaulting Brett when he was six months old in May 1996. Matthews was 19 at the time.
“I was so consumed by anger for a long time, so much so that I couldn’t even stay in the courtroom for those previous appearances,” Brett wrote. “The anger is still there, don’t get me wrong, but it is more controlled. Now I feel confident I can see Brian in court, and I am no longer overcome by that anger. Some day I hope to be able to sit down with him and even talk things out … to try and help each other.”
Family and Children’s Services Niagara apprehended Kody and placed him in Matthews’ care nine weeks and three days before his death on July 26, 2016.
The day before Kody died, emergency crews were dispatched to Matthews’ home on Thorold Townline Road in response to a 911 call of a child in medical distress. Paramedics took Kody to St. Catharines hospi-
tal. He was transferred by air ambulance to McMaster Children’s Hospital in Hamilton, where he was pronounced dead the following day after doctors removed him from life-support.
Matthews was arrested and charged by Niagara Regional Police in November 2015 following a lengthy investigation.
Matthews maintained that the family dog, a 40-kilogram Labrador-bull mastiff cross named Duke, jumped into Kody and caused his death.
Matthews is free on bail. There is no minimum sentence for a manslaughter conviction if a firearm wasn’t used. The maximum penalty is life in prison.