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Crown cross-examines Granby stepmother accused of killing seven-year-old girl

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WARNING: Details in this story are disturbing

 The Crown began its cross-examination Tuesday of the Granby woman accused of killing her seven-year-old stepdaughter.

The prosecution spent a good portion of the day trying to establish the woman’s frame of mind in the days before the girl died.

The woman, who can’t be identified due to a publication ban, is facing charges of second-degree murder and illegal confinement. The 38-year-old woman is appearing at the Trois-Rivieres courthouse to face the charges.

Her stepmother testified Monday the child was restrained with packing tape after she had climbed out her bedroom window and tried to run away.

Under cross-examination, the stepmother insisted it was for child’s own good, saying “I didn’t see it as dangerous at the time… it was just to hold her until we could go see the child psychiatrist.”

The court has heard that the girl was left in her bedroom all night, bound with that tape around her shoulders, chest and legs.

Her stepmother has admitted she added more tape the next morning.

On the stand, though, she defended her actions, saying she was often alone to care for the girl and her own two son and that the girl would mutilate and punch herself.

“It was the only solution there was at that moment,” the stepmother testified as she cried. “I never thought she would die.”

The Crown asked if would not have been better to hold her in her arms, instead of tying her up.

“I didn’t know what to do,” the woman said.

The morning of April 29, 2017, the stepmother heard a noise and went to check on the girl. She wasn’t breathing and died in hospital the following day.

The case continues Wednesday. 

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