Second-degree murder sentencing: woman killed toddler inside CAS building in Toronto
Shardanae Cousins-Emily faces sentencing after being convicted of murdering a three-year-old boy inside a Children's Aid Society building. Crown seeks 18-year parole ineligibility.
Sentencing hearing opens for woman who killed toddler at Children's Aid Society
Warning: This story contains content that may be disturbing to some readers.
Yverson Belotte stood before a packed courtroom and told a judge how the murder of his three-year-old son had robbed him of his only child — a boy who should now be six years old. Global News Crime reports that Belotte delivered his victim impact statement at the sentencing hearing for Shardanae Cousins-Emily, the woman convicted of killing his son.
"He was supposed to be there asking me millions of questions and turning my hair grey," Belotte told the court.
A large photograph of his son, Yverson Belotte Junior — also known as Quintanni, or Quinn — was held up behind him as he spoke. Addressing Cousins-Emily directly, Belotte said: "I don't think you have a capability to understand you have committed an evil crime."
The crime
In February, a jury found Cousins-Emily guilty of second-degree murder following a three-week trial. On December 2, 2023, Cousins-Emily — then 22 years old — took Quintanni, whom she had agreed to care for over the weekend, to the Children's Aid Society (CAS) building on Isabella Street. She was attending a supervised visit with her own son at that location.
After the visit, Cousins-Emily brought Quintanni into a washroom on the main floor. She remained inside for more than an hour. A security guard testified that when she emerged, he noticed a bump on the child's head and offered to seek medical assistance. She refused. The boy died the following day. The cause of death was blunt force trauma.
Mother's statement
The boy's mother, Shania John, wept as she addressed the court. John said she had given birth to Quintanni shortly after her 18th birthday and that she and Cousins-Emily had known each other since the age of 12, having been roommates and foster sisters.
"I believed she understood the pain and the loss and what it meant to come from difficult circumstances. I never imagined the person I trusted so deeply would take my son's life," John told the court.
John said strangers have since called her "a bad mother," adding to the court that she felt no need to defend herself.
Crown arguments
Assistant Crown attorney Carime Boehr asked Superior Court Justice Kelly Byrne to impose 18 years of parole ineligibility. Second-degree murder carries an automatic life sentence; the judge must set a parole ineligibility period of between 10 and 25 years.
Boehr argued that Quintanni was alone and helpless when he was taken into the washroom, where no one could intervene. "It was an exceptional breach of trust. The mother believed Cousins-Emily would care for her child. Instead, she betrayed Ms. John's trust by launching a savage attack on Quintanni," Boehr said.
The Crown also stated that the beating must have lasted a significant period of time, given the nature and number of injuries sustained. "Two of his teeth were ripped out and perhaps most disturbing, this little child suffered what appeared to be defensive wounds," Boehr told the court.
Boehr further noted that Cousins-Emily attempted to clean up the scene afterward in an effort to conceal what had occurred.
Defence position
Defence lawyers Roger Rowe and Jacob Stilman argued for a parole ineligibility period of 15 years. Stilman pushed back against the Crown's characterization of Cousins-Emily as unremorseful, pointing out that she had attempted to plead guilty to manslaughter at the start of the trial — a plea the Crown rejected in favour of proceeding with the murder charge.
"This is a brutal gut-wrenching case. We are not trying to minimize the grief that our client's actions have caused and obviously the brutality of it," Stilman said.
Cousins-Emily was given the final word at the hearing. "I just want to say I'm sorry," she said quietly.
Justice Byrne is expected to deliver the sentence later this month.
Source: Global News Crime