Everyone knows how much protection there is for minors in Canada, even for parents: hitting children for no reason, if the child calls the police, the parents will even be deprived of custody or even convicted.
As a result, serious acts of violence between parents and children in Canada are rare, let alone parents killing their children, or children killing their parents. But in B.C., a pair of cruel parents were recently sentenced to 15 years in prison for killing their 6-year-old son.
The victim, Dontay Patrick Lucas, died on March 13, 2018 from brain trauma caused by a blunt force after being beaten and tortured by his parents for a long time, in Port Alberni, Vancouver Island.
A series of modus operandi is frenzied
Through investigation, it was learned that the child's mother was his biological mother, named Hannah, but it was not his biological father who jointly committed the violence, but his stepfather Mitchell. After a five-year investigation into the case, they pleaded guilty to "manslaughter" in November 2023, but were eventually convicted of first-degree murder.
Judge Michael Tammen, who heard the case, reviewed all the materials submitted by the prosecution and the defense, and recalled what happened, and a series of methods of crime were so desperate that it was impossible to imagine that this was something that parents in Canada, a civilized country, could do:
In the beginning, the parents deprived the child of sleep, food, and water, leaving him starving; Subsequently, the parents began to abuse the child: biting him, hitting him, kneeling on the roof of the door.
"Any child death is a tragedy, especially when the death is caused by the parents, and the situation is very bad, and we rarely see such cases," Justice Tamen said bluntly. ”
"I still find it inconceivable that such a long-term abuse of a defenceless 6-year-old child would be committed," Judge Tamen said, adding, "The couple has no criminal record and they refuse to say why they killed the child." ”
Biological father: Be sure to do justice for your child
Whether it is about the sentence, the sentencing process, or the statement of the murderer, Patrick, the biological father of the victim Dontay, has expressed disagreement, and he has gathered outside the courthouse with other relatives of the victim's child, including the grandmother, and community members to call for a clear investigation.
Outside the courtroom, there were also a number of people holding framed photographs of the little boy and holding cedar branches. As Crown Prosecutor Kimberly Henders read out the murderer's murder in detail, the courthouse burst into tears, as they couldn't believe that a child could be treated so cruelly.
The information available is that the child's mother did not want the child after the divorce, but she was the first guardian, and her subsequent husband did not want the child either, but had to accept it. The child was initially cared for by an adoptive mother named Laurie and later transferred to the biological mother under the law.
Even if they don't want children, can biological mothers and stepfathers commit violence against children for a long time? It is intolerable to reason and reason. Laurie, the adoptive mother, also blamed herself very much: "If the child had not left me, there would not have been such a tragic ending." ”
The adoptive mother is still taking care of the victim's older siblings
In fact, Dontay was not the only child in the family, but after the brutal murder, he also had an 8-year-old sister and a 1-year-old sister, who have been cared for by his adoptive mother, Laurie, and are now 13 and 7 years old respectively.
At first, the court wanted her sister Mia to write a victim statement for her younger brother, but she had to ask someone else because her sister was too sad. My sister just drew a picture of herself and her brother playing in the sun called "My Wish".
"Dontay, I'm sad, I can't remember what you look like, but I hope you're always here," Mia wrote. After Dontay's tragic death, his biological father, Patrick, struggled with depression.
In court, a video of Dontay dancing in a bright yellow T-shirt at a community center was also shown, which made both his biological father and sister cry.
Laurie, the adoptive mother, said with trepidation: "I really can't imagine what would happen if the other two children were also sentenced to the care of their biological mothers. "If there is a tragedy in which all three children are abused and killed, then there is no second case in Canadian history.
The biological mother's "poor psychological condition" led to the crime?
The murderer's defense lawyer believes that the biological mother has a long-term problem with poor psychological conditions. In fact, the court initially wanted her to take care of all three children, but she wanted the children to go to her adoptive mother, Laurie, on the grounds that "I was too stressed to take care of them".
After being denied, the biological mother could only be "reluctantly" responsible for taking care of Dontay, but she did not expect this forced care by the court to cause an irreparable tragedy.
After receiving the verdict, the biological mother, who has always been hard-hearted, said "emotionally": "I regret it, I am scared, this is the biggest mistake I have ever made, I want to say sorry to my son" - but it was too late.
However, this act of repentance did receive a light sentence, and the judge found that the murderer's "attitude is good, and the sentence can be moderately reduced".
In North America, there are too many criminal motives that can be summed up in the phrase "poor mental health". It is true that some of them are psychological problems, but no matter how bad the psychological condition is, everyone understands the truth that tigers do not eat children, and parents who kill their children are indeed inferior to animals.