Alberta judge makes recommendations after death of Indigenous girl in care

EDMONTON – An Alberta judge has made 20 recommendations from a fatality inquiry into the 2014 death of a girl in care.

The Indigenous girl known as Serenity was four when she suffered a serious brain injury after falling from a tire swing at her guardians’ home in Maskwacis, south of Edmonton.

She and two older siblings had been taken from their mother by children’s services and placed with their great aunt and uncle in a kinship care arrangement.

The guardians were charged in 2017 with failing to provide the necessities of life, an offence unrelated to the death, but the charges were withdrawn two years later.

Provincial court Judge Renee Cochard says in her inquiry report that there had been previous concerns about Serenity’s health, as she was emaciated and weighed 39 pounds when she died.

The judge says children should be taken from their mothers as a last result and only following a thorough investigation.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 4, 2023