The father of a blended family whose two babies died in quick succession was arrested Thursday morning in Quebec. He was charged with the second degree murder of his 2-month-old daughter.
The man, whom we are forbidden to name to protect other children, appeared by videoconference before a judge on Thursday afternoon.
“The Sûreté du Québec (SQ) Crimes Against Persons Investigation Service arrested a 27-year-old man from Lévis this morning in Sainte-Foy in connection with the death of a two-month-old baby that occurred in October 2021, ”said Hélène St-Pierre, spokesperson for the SQ, a few hours earlier.
The man, shaved head and dressed in a black t-shirt, remained impassive during his appearance. As he is charged with second degree murder, his continued detention is “automatic at this stage” of the judicial process, explained to him the Crown prosecutor, Mr.e Matthew Rochette. The accused was forbidden to communicate with his spouse.
Solicited by email, his lawyer, Mr.e Macha Ouellet-Bernatchez, did not immediately comment on the file.
Two dead babies
The Press lifted the veil on Wednesday on the tragic situation at the origin of the accusations, revealed by a judgment in a youth protection case.
A boy and a girl from this blended family from Chaudière-Appalaches died in their first months of life in 2020 and 2021.
The first death, that of a little boy under 6 months, remains unexplained after a coroner’s inquest.
The second death, that of a 2-month-old girl, was linked to trauma observed on the child’s body at the time of his hospitalization, according to doctors. “She suffered during her short life, from one and/or the other of her parents, abuse of great violence which led to her death”, wrote the judge Louis Charette, in its decision on the future of the family’s surviving children.
Regardless of their degree of responsibility in these actions, [les parents] failed in their task.
Judge Louis Charette, in his decision on the future of the surviving children of the family
The judgment was handed down last December.
The management of the case was complicated by the parallel progress of the police investigation and the efforts of the Department of Youth Protection (DPJ) to ensure the safety of the surviving children of the blended family. The autopsy report on the second death “has been completed for several months, but [il] is still not accessible. Indeed, this document is still in the possession of the Sûreté du Québec, which refuses to give access to it to the parents and to the DPJ, “said Judge Charette in December.
Choosing not to take the risk, the magistrate had decided that the couple would not regain custody of the surviving children: one would remain with his biological mother, the other would be cared for by his grandmother. The mother would continue to have access to her child. The father had supervised access, but his arrest could cloud the issue.