Two women accused of murdering a 12-year-old boy allegedly watched him die on camera as he was trapped in their basement vomiting and screaming, a court has heard
Two orphaned brothers were abused when couple who intended to adopt them allegedly subjected the boys to a cycle of appalling torture, a court has heard.
One of the children, a 12-year-old boy known only as LL, spent his last moments in agony, screaming and retching as he tried to escape from a locked basement. His prospective adoptive parents are accused of watching him die on camera, ignoring his desperate cries for help.
The two women now face charges of murdering the unfortunate lad, who sought their care but was instead allegedly forced to live in squalor while being gradually tortured. Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney have entered not guilty pleas to charges of first-degree murder. The pair also pleaded not guilty to confinement, assault with a weapon, and failing to provide the necessities of life to LL’s younger brother, JL, who gave evidence during the trial.
LL was under the women’s care when he died, as they were finalising the details of his adoption process, reports the Mirror.
Prosecutors allege that the couple despised and mistreated the children through neglect. They are accused of exaggerating or fabricating many of the behavioural issues the children supposedly had to service providers.
However, the couple’s lawyers contend they were doing their utmost to look after the brothers with special needs and received minimal support. When paramedics discovered LL, he was mysteriously drenched, severely undernourished and unconscious, confined in the basement of the pair’s Toronto residence, the court was told.
A wetsuit lay beside him.Frail and powerless, LL was rushed to hospital but tragically it was too late. He passed away on December 21, 2022. He was so severely malnourished that witnesses said he appeared to be six-years-old.
The youngster had reportedly been confined in the basement for hours, weeping, being sick and shrieking, CBC reports.
The court heard that he battered and kicked at the door, frantically trying to get out, at one stage begging: “This is not going to get any better”.
Testifying in the murder trial, Faisel Mohdi, a social worker, said LL slept on a pitiful cot that was frequently soaked in sick.
The caseworker alleged that Cooney’s father, who resided with the two women, informed her that the boy’s sleeping space was not washed apart from being wiped down with a cloth.
He reportedly told Modhi during an interview: “Do you know how much laundry [Cooney and Hamber] had to do already?”.
Modhi questioned the couple in a hotel room the day following LL’s death, the Ontario court heard.
The social worker reportedly viewed footage from the camera in the boy’s room that had been stored on one of the women’s phones.
Cooney and Hamber informed Modhi that on the day of his death the boy had largely been alone, except for when he vomited up his breakfast and lunch, according to court testimony. The couple confessed to Modhi that their soon-to-be son had an eating disorder and would regurgitate his food.
“They admitted [he] was 48 pounds,” Modhi revealed in court, “but stated it was because he would throw up food, chew it again and lick it off the floor.”
The social worker shared that the couple would play music and instruct LL to perform yoga poses or walk around his basement room while he was suffering. Court was shown footage of the room, with a voice believed to be Hamber’s instructing the boy to ‘lay down because he was being disrespectful’.
The recordings from the 12 year old’s room cease around 5pm, leading to speculation that the camera was switched off. However, the couple claimed they had “spotty” internet, and many of the cameras in their home didn’t always function, according to Express US.
By early evening, Cooney reportedly removed a blanket from the boy and told him to ‘calm down’, which only upset him further, the court heard. The next time the woman checked on LL, he was unresponsive with ‘vomit everywhere’.
Modhi said the couple called 911, but it was too late. The women have yet to provide an explanation for why he had been wearing a wetsuit. It was discovered that LL’s body temperature was dangerously low, but a pathologist couldn’t determine if he had died from hypothermia or malnourishment.
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