“She destroyed the life of an innocent little girl,” the child’s grandmother said of the 38-year-old who is in court on Friday morning so that the length of her prison term can be determined .
Last week, the mother-in-law of the “Granby girl” was found guilty by a jury of premeditated murder and forcible confinement.
Since the count of unpremeditated murder automatically carries a life sentence, all that remains is for the judge to determine the minimum number of years she will have to spend behind bars before she can apply for parole.
The Crown requires a minimum of 15 to 18 years, while the stepmother’s lawyer, Mr.e Alexandre Biron, judges that a minimum of 10 years is more adequate.
The lawyers offered Friday to Judge Louis Dionne of the Superior Court their arguments to lean towards their suggested sentence.
Three people came to the Trois-Rivières courthouse, where the trial took place, to explain to the judge the impact that the death of the 7-year-old girl had on their lives.
For the child’s paternal grandmother, the mother-in-law’s actions are “unacceptable” and “incomprehensible”.
If she had had enough of the child and no longer wanted it, “why not have given it back to me as I wanted,” said to the magistrate the woman who welcomed the little one into her home during the first four years of her life. life.
“She destroyed the life of an innocent little girl,” she said, not forgetting her little brother who “saw and heard it all” which happened on the morning of April 29, 2019, when the The girl was found inert on the floor of her bedroom, wrapped in duct tape “like a mummy”.
It is not the drama of one child, but that of all of Quebec, she added.
A “still alive” wound
The girl’s biological mother also insisted on speaking to the judge.
“We do not expect to bring a child into the world to lose it in a tragedy like this,” said the petite 30-year-old woman, whose child was withdrawn by the DPJ.
She explained that for her, the wound of her death is “still alive” and that she still has the last moments of her life in mind, which prevents her from being present for her two other daughters.
“At least I tell myself that she’s not in pain anymore. “
As for the sister of the child’s father, she did not go all the way in launching: “we must pass a message to the entire population: we do not touch a child”.
The girl’s father pleaded guilty this week to having her kidnapped, thus avoiding trial. The pleadings on the sentence which will be imposed on him will take place at the beginning of January.
The lawyers are due to appear before Judge Dionne this afternoon.