A Canadian couple is facing serious allegations of fostering severe abuse that led to the death of their foster child, who was found emaciated and drenched in a locked basement room.

The trial of Brandy Cooney, 43, and Becky Hamber, 45, began in mid-September, with the women denying charges including first-degree murder, confinement, assault with a weapon, and failing to provide the necessities of life.

The tragic discovery of the 12-year-old boy, known as L.L., occurred on December 21, 2022, in the Milton, Ontario, home of Cooney and Hamber. According to the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s courtroom reports, prosecutors argue that L.L.’s death resulted from prolonged abuse by his caregivers.

In court, the prosecution painted a grim picture, suggesting the women “hated, abused, and neglected” L.L. and his younger brother, J.L., as reported by The Independent. The boys allegedly endured harsh conditions, such as being forced to wear wetsuits secured with zip ties, confined to their rooms under surveillance, sleeping in tents, and being fed pureed food typically meant for infants.

To support their case, prosecutors presented text messages allegedly exchanged between the two women, providing further insight into their actions.

L.L. was a “loser” and an “idiot,” the women said, according to evidence presented at the trial. In other messages, Hamber referred to herself as “Officer Hamber” and said one of the two boys in her care was “in Hamber Cooney prison.” In another text message, one of the women reportedly said about one of the boys, “hope he gets an infection.”

The boys were indigenous, moved from their long-term foster home to Hamber and Cooney’s care in 2017. By the time of that fateful December 2022 night, the women reportedly planned to adopt them.

On Dec. 21, 2022, paramedics arrived at the women’s home to find L.L. unresponsive, soaking wet, and covered in vomit. He was reportedly so emaciated that, though he was 12 years old at the time, he looked like he could have been 6.

He was brought to an area hospital, where he died.

L.L. may have died from hypothermia or cardiac arrest due to severe malnourishment, a pathologist said, but his exact cause of death was uncertain.

J.L., who is now 13 years old, testified in the trial, telling the court that Hamber and Cooney instructed him to repeat false claims that his and L.L.’s previous foster family abused them. He also said that at some point in his five-year stay with the couple, he was kept in his room 90% of the time and given only pureed food.

Cooney and Hamber’s attorneys have attempted to paint the case as two foster parents simply trying to do the best they could with children with special needs. As the defense tells it, the tents could be therapeutic, the wetsuits were to prevent bathroom accidents, and they gave the kids pureed food based on a recommendation from a mental health worker.

But other witnesses’ testimony suggested the women were to blame for L.L.’s death. Heather Walsh, who was a foster parent of the two boys before they were moved to Cooney and Hamber’s care, said that although L.L. had his difficulties, he was “a very enthusiastic, social little guy” and had improved mightily before leaving her care.

“I think if someone else had adopted them, [L.L.] would be alive today,” she said.

The trial is expected to last until at least mid-December.