deadmonton 2005 - caleb merchant
Caleb Merchant, 13 months, was shaken to death November 24th, 2005.
Raymond Douglas Loyer, 44, was charged with second-degree murder.
A young child was rushed to the Stollery Children's Hospital with critical head injuries and bruising to his lower back, legs and arms. Twenty-four hours later his 21-year-old mother made the decision to take him off life-support. He succumbed to his injuries a day later.
Under the Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act individuals involved in such a case cannot be named by officials. However, Caleb Merchant's family came forward and spoke to local media.
On October 3rd, 2005 Sandra Mingo lost custody of Caleb and her two other children, aged two and six. They were placed with Mingo's cousin and her partner under a program called Kinship Care.
After seeing her child at the hospital, Mingo described Caleb's bruises as fresh and covering half his back, his upper leg and hip area and his upper arms.
Doctors said his brain injuries were so severe he would never have been the same. A pediatrician who had seen Caleb earlier in the week said he seemed fine.
After the 13-month-old boy died, Mingo's two surviving children were removed from the cousin's home. The province's Children's Services Department was contemplating a special case review to see if any procedures should be changed.
An Alberta Justice spokesman said a fatality inquiry is mandatory when a child dies in foster care, and the fatality review board will make formal recommendations to Justice Minister Ron Stevens based on the medical examiner's report. Children's Services offered to pay for the funeral.
On November 26th, police announced a 44-year-old Edmonton man had been charged with second-degree murder in the case, Edmonton's 35th homicide of the year.
Family members described the man arrested as "a trusted family member." Media identified him as Raymond Douglas Loyer, the partner of Mingo's cousin.
On June 22nd, 2006 Raymond Douglas Loyer pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of manslaughter.
Court agreed to a joint-recommendation of five years in prison, but Loyer was given six months credit for time spent in pre-trial custody. The sentence left him with four-and-a-half years left to serve in prison.
Loyer admitted through his lawyer that the shaking incident happened in the bathroom of his home during "a difficult morning" after coming home from work sick with pneumonia.
Loyer had worked at the downtown Greyhound bus station for 20 years before his arrest.
According to agreed facts read in court, Caleb was taken away from his mother about seven weeks before his death over concerns relating to her getting treatment for drug abuse.
Caleb was placed with Rachel Donovan, a distant relative of his mother's, and Loyer, Donovan's common-law husband.
On November 24th, 2006 Loyer called 911, asking for an ambulance. Paramedics found Caleb in cardiac arrest, but he was resuscitated and taken to hospital.
A day later he was taken off life support. He died the next day.
At the time, Loyer said Caleb had been playing with his older brother in the living room when he fell on a large Weebleville toy. His eyes then rolled back into his head and he stopped breathing. Loyer feared Caleb was choking on a toy.
An autopsy determined Caleb died as a result of cranial trauma from injuries consistent with shaken baby syndrome.
Doctors said the result of the shaking was equal to what would be suffered in a high-speed car crash or a fall from a two- or three-storey building. Bruises on Caleb's body also indicated there were "multiple impacts."
Defence lawyer D'Arcy Depoe called it a "serious assault of short duration" involving no planning or deliberation.
Loyer told the judge he had thought a lot about what he wanted to say in court, but said his mind had just gone blank.
"I'm stressed out by being here," he said. "I just can't think of anything to say."
Outside court, both Sandra Mingo, 22, and her mother, Shirley Merchant, expressed disappointment over the sentence.
"It's not long enough," said Mingo. "It's not fair."
In her victim impact statement, Mingo described Caleb as "an angel sent to me from God." She also stated she hated Loyer for what he did and preferred he was sentenced to life in prison.
"I will never forgive him for what he has done to my son, to me and my family. In fact, I hope he burns in hell for the pain and hurt he caused us all."
Shirley Merchant said in her victim impact statement that she had given her slain grandson the nickname "Precious" and she built a shrine in her house for him after his death.
Mingo planned a lawsuit against Children's Services. Five months pregnant with her fourth child, she hired a lawyer to make sure the government didn't take her new baby away.
Children's Services spokeswoman Mary Lou Reeleder said an internal review is conducted whenever a child in custody is injured or dies.
No date was set for the review, the results of which are not made public.