No new trial for stepmother in Granby girl case, Quebec Court of Appeal rules
Posted March 18, 2025 10:27 am.
The appeal filed by the stepmother involved in the Granby girl’s case has been denied.
A seven-year-old girl died in April 2019 the day after she was discovered by police officers while completely wrapped in tape.
The father of the girl had first put her under restraint in this way after she had run away during the night to take refuge at a neighbour’s house.
He then left for work in the morning, and it was his wife who wrapped her completely in tape, including over her face, because she had partially freed herself.
The stepmother, who can’t be identified because of a publication ban, had been convicted of second-degree murder and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole for 13 years.
She has been denied a new trial by the Court of Appeal and will remain in prison.
Request for a new trial
In Sept. 2024, the Court of Appeal heard the stepmother’s case and her request for a new trial.
The stepmother appealed the four-year prison sentence imposed on her on the charge of forcible confinement against her husband’s daughter.
She also appealed the parole ineligibility period to reduce it to 10 years.
Despite the defence arguing that several miscarriages of justice had taken place, among them holding the trial in Trois-Rivières and confiscating and searching her phone without a warrant, the
Court of Appeal rejected all arguments.
The judge concluded that a warrant would have eventually been obtained anyway, since there was ample evidence supporting such actions.
In Dec. 2023, the Granby girl’s father’s request for a conditional day release to a halfway house was granted.
The child’s death shocked Quebec and led to the creation of a Commission of Inquiry into Children’s Rights and Youth Protection, chaired by Régine Laurent, whose report has yet to be implemented.
Five years after the child’s death, the follow-up committee of the Commission spéciale sur les droits des enfants et la protection de la jeunesse (CSDEPJ) is concerned about the government’s actions to better protect Quebec’s children.
