Slain Granby girl's stepmother appeals her guilty verdict and life sentence

MONTREAL -

The stepmother convicted of the murder of the seven-year-old Granby girl is appealing her guilty verdict and sentence.

Found guilty of the unpremeditated murder and kidnapping of the child Dec. 9, the 38-year-old woman had 30 days to appeal the decision and she filed her appeal just before the deadline.

The jury took only five hours to reach a verdict.

The defendant admitted to adding layers of tape to the child, who was already covered with several layers of tape.

On Dec. 17, she was sentenced to life imprisonment without the possibility of parole for 13 years.

The minimum sentence is 10 years for an unpremeditated murder, but Judge Louis Dionne felt that the aggravating circumstances surrounding this crime, notably the fact that the victim was a child in a vulnerable position, did not allow her to go to the minimum, as her lawyer had requested.

However, the judge did not follow the Crown's request for a minimum sentence of 15 to 18 years. As for the mitigating circumstances, Dionne pointed out the remorse of the accused and the low risk of re-offending.

He also sentenced the woman to four years in prison for kidnapping, but this sentence was not added to the previous one.

FATHER GETS FOUR YEARS

The father, for his part, discreetly pleaded guilty to the charge of having confined the child, on Dec. 13.

He was the one who had initially wrapped the girl in tape before leaving the house. Judge François Huot sentenced him last Friday to four years in prison, a relatively heavy sentence for a charge of this nature.

However, by pleading guilty to the charge of forcible confinement, the 32-year-old man was freed from the much more serious charge of criminal negligence causing death, an offence that could have led to a life sentence.

The child's death shocked the province, even calling into question the entire youth protection system.

The Legault government created a commission to analyze the child protection system, chaired by Régine Laurent.

A coroner's inquest, to be chaired by Géhane Kamel, is also scheduled to take place at a date yet to be determined.

-- This report by The Canadian Press was first published in French on Jan. 10, 2022.