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Inset: Brandy Cooney and Becky Hamber (Facebook). Background: The victim”s room in a photo taken after he died and filed as a court exhibit. (Ontario Superior Court).
The jury has heard the final arguments in a harrowing case involving two women accused of severely abusing their foster children, resulting in the tragic death of one child found in a locked basement room.
Brandy Cooney, 44, and Becky Hamber, 46, have both denied charges that include first-degree murder, unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon, and failing to provide the necessities of life.
The investigation began after authorities discovered a 12-year-old boy, known only by the initials L.L., deceased in the couple’s Milton home in Ontario, Canada.
On December 21, 2022, emergency responders arrived at the residence to find L.L. unresponsive, drenched, and covered in vomit. As previously reported by Law&Crime, the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation revealed that the child was so severely undernourished that his appearance was more akin to that of a six-year-old, despite his actual age.
The child was later pronounced dead, with a pathologist suggesting possible causes such as hypothermia or cardiac arrest linked to extreme malnutrition. However, the exact cause of death remains undetermined.
The trial began in September.
The former foster mother of L.L. and J.L. — who was L.L.’s younger brother — told the CBC it “feels like the trial that never ends.”
In their closing arguments, prosecutors alleged the women starved their foster children and kept them isolated in wet suits and helmets because they “hated” them. The prosecutors pointed to messages from the women, including a text where one of them allegedly wrote, “Shiver shiver dumb f–” and suggested using exercise as a way for the boys to stay warm.
About a month before L.L.’s death, Cooney texted Hamber, “Unfortunately my thoughts [are] he is suddenly going to die and im going to jail,” prosecutor Monica MacKenzie said, adding that this message showed the women knew the consequences of what they were doing.
However, defense attorneys argue that the children were difficult to handle and that measures such as the helmets and wet suits were to keep the kids from having bathroom accidents all over the place and to prevent them from hurting themselves. The defense has also contended that child aid workers and health professionals who checked on the boys knew about the women’s methods and never raised any concerns with them.
Since no jury is involved in the case, Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan will decide the fates of the defendants.