How Could You? Hall of Shame-Canada-12-year-old foster son-Child Death UPDATED and Lawsuit

This will be an archive of heinous actions by those involved in child welfare, foster care and adoption. We forewarn you that these are deeply disturbing stories that may involve sex abuse, murder, kidnapping and other horrendous actions.

From Toronto, Canada, prospective adoptive parents Becky Hammer,44, and Brandy Cooney,22, “were charged with first degree murder of their 12-year-old” foster son “after previously charging them with alleged abuse and forcible confinement of his younger sibling.”

“In a statement released Friday, the Halton Children’s Aid Society said they were devastated to hear of the death of a child in their care, whom they described as Indigenous.

The charges are connected to an incident in Burlington on the evening of Dec. 21, 2022, when police and emergency services were called to a report of a child without vital signs.

When police arrived, they found the 12-year-old boy dead.

Following an investigation from the Halton Regional Police Child Abuse and Sexual Assault Unit, police arrested his prospective adoptive parents on Thursday.

Police say the accused were also looking to adopt the boy’s younger sibling, who also lived in the home in Dec. 2022.

Police earlier charged the same parents with assault, assault with a weapon, forcible confinement, failure to provide the necessaries of life and criminal negligence causing bodily harm over alleged conduct related to that younger sibling.

Police say both parents have been held for bail hearing on Friday.

In its Friday statement, the Children’s Aid Society said they immediately conducted an internal review and have asked an independent third-party reviewer to examine their child safety standards.

They added they are cooperating with an ongoing investigation by Halton police and said they are “absolutely committed to learning everything we can about what happened in this case.”

“Our profound thoughts and condolences continue to be with the family and the Indigenous community. We want to reiterate that our priority is always the safety and well-being of the children in our care, and we will continue to do everything in our power to ensure that they are protected and supported,” Halton Children’s Aid said in a statement.

Neither police nor the children’s aid society have identified the boy.

Becky Hamber, 44 and Brandy Cooney, 42, both face charges of first-degree murder and failure to provide the necessaries of life.”

Prospective adoptive parents charged with murder of 12-year-old Burlington boy, abuse of younger sibling
[Toronto Star 3/1/24 by Omar Mosleh]

REFORM Puzzle Piece

UPDATE:“The five-month trial for Brandy Cooney, 43, and Becky Hamber, 45, in the death of their adopted 12-year-old son referred to as L.L. has continued this week in Ontario Superior Court. The women face several charges, including first-degree murder, confinement, assault with a weapon, and failing to provide the necessaries of life.

They have both pleaded not guilty to all of them.

Hamber testified on Tuesday, telling the courtroom she and her wife loved L.L. and his then-younger brother, J.L., who is now 13. The couple reportedly wanted to adopt the boys before L.L. died on Dec. 21, 2022.

She also explained why she and Cooney believed it was necessary to restrain or limit the movement of the two boys, including zip-tying hockey helmets onto their heads so they wouldn’t bang their skulls on objects, per the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. And she described her idea — and then action — of making the boys wear wetsuits, which she compared to “a hug”

According to Hamber, child aid workers and health professionals who checked on the boys knew about the women’s methods and never raised any concerns with them.

The women have said that they used the wetsuits to keep the kids from urinating or defecating all over the place, adding that they would lock the outside of the children’s rooms when they were inside and monitor their movements when they were let out through security cameras and bells placed above doors.

But the restrictions on the kids went beyond concerns for safety, prosecutors allege. The children were kept inside their rooms for 18 hours at a time, with J.L. testifying that in the last year of his brother’s life, he would hardly see him except when passing him in the hall.”

“The Indigenous children had been in the women’s care for more than four years, having been moved from their long-term foster home in 2017. On that harrowing Dec. 21, 2022, night, first responders arrived at Hamber and Cooney’s Milton, Ontario, home to find L.L. unresponsive, soaking wet, and covered in vomit. He was reportedly so emaciated that, though he was 12 years old, he looked like he could have been 6.”

“He was later pronounced dead — possibly from hypothermia or cardiac arrest due to severe malnourishment, a pathologist said, but they were unable to rule on an exact cause of death.”

“The trial began in September. Hamber is expected to continue testifying on Wednesday.”

I did not love my adopted child’: Women made foster kids wear wetsuits because they were like ‘a hug’ before one of them died drenched and covered in vomit, prosecutors say
[Law and Crime 1/14/26 by Conrad Hoyt]

UPDATE 2:“The biological family of the boy who died while in the care of Brandy Cooney and Becky Hamber have filed a $4-million lawsuit against two Children’s Aid Societies (CAS), the Ontario couple and three doctors.

The lawsuit, which alleges negligence, is separate from Cooney’s and Hamber’s ongoing criminal trial in Milton, Ont., where the two have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder of the 12-year-old boy, and not guilty to confinement, assault with a weapon and failing to provide the necessaries of life to his younger brother.

The Indigenous boys’ identities are protected under a publication ban. For our coverage, we’re referring to the older boy as L.L., who died on Dec. 21, 2022, and his brother as J.L. We’re also withholding the family members’ names to protect the boys’ identities as required by the court.

The civil lawsuit was filed in Ottawa Superior Court in December 2024 on behalf of J.L., the estate of L.L. and the boys’ birth mother. It alleges the defendants showed a “callous disregard and complete lack of care” for the lives, safety and well-being of the boys.

The boys were wards of the Ottawa CAS; Halton CAS was responsible for the day-to-day handling of their case.

Boy ‘deeply loved’ by biological family

L.L., was “deeply loved” by his brother and mother, and “suffered extreme pain, suffering and emotional distress” leading up to his death, the family’s statement of claim says.

He was severely malnourished, weighing about the same as he did when he was six years old, and had stopped growing in the last months of his life, the murder trial that began in September has heard.

The Crown alleges L.L. was locked in his basement bedroom of the couple’s Burlington, Ont., home most of the time for over a year, and restrained in wetsuits, sleep sacks, hockey helmets and a tent, deprived of food, forced to exercise and not allowed to use the washroom when needed.

J.L., who is now 13 years old, experienced similar punishments, the Crown contends. He was removed from Cooney’s and Hamber’s care a few days after L.L. died and has testified at the trial against Hamber and Cooney.

Two boys in suits

According to the family’s statement of claim, he continues to experience “severe, permanent and serious impairments of important physical, mental, psychological and cognitive functions” because of how he was treated in Hamber’s and Cooney’s home.

CBC Hamilton reached out to the defendants, some through their lawyers, who either didn’t respond or declined to comment as the criminal proceedings are ongoing.

Ottawa CAS has notified the court it intends to defend itself, as have a few doctors. No statements of defence have yet been filed.

None of the allegations in the civil suit have been tested in court.

Biological family fought for custody

The brothers’ biological family alleges both the Halton and Ottawa CAS were negligent in how they handled the adoption process and supervision of Hamber and Cooney, which caused or contributed to the boys’ injuries and L.L.’s death.

The boys were removed from their biological family when they were very young and lived with a foster family for years in Ottawa, the murder trial has heard.

During that time, the brothers continued to see their grandparents and mother, who tried twice to regain custody of them in the mid-2010s, according to court decisions.

But the judge then determined it was in their best interest to remain wards of Ottawa CAS, meaning the agency was responsible for ensuring their safety and well-being, and was also allowed to place them in adoption.

CAS was also supposed to “take into consideration their Indigenous background when making decisions about their placement,” says the family’s statement of claim.

“The societies did not take these factors into consideration at all and instead placed them in Burlington away from their Indigenous birth family in Ottawa.”

In 2015, the Truth and Reconciliation Commission highlighted the need to better support Indigenous children in the welfare system and to reduce the number of those children in care.

It called on governments to provide more resources to help keep Indigenous families together, when it’s safe to do so, and “to keep children in culturally appropriate environments, regardless of where they reside.”

Disturbing details of child neglect raise questions about parents, police, welfare agencies
Under Ontario’s Child, Youth and Family Services Act, CAS is supposed to respect a child’s need for stable relationships with family and their culture.

The murder trial has heard the boys were supposed to regularly see and talk to their biological and foster families and find ways to stay connected to their Indigenous identity, but Cooney and Hamber mostly cut off those relationships and claimed the boys were not Indigenous.

Halton and Ottawa CAS knew about these issues, the trial has heard, but kept the boys in the women’s care regardless.

CAS received reports of suspected abuse

In the civil suit, the family’s statement of claim says CAS knew about at least some of the abuse the boys were experiencing and “failed to protect” L.L. and J.L. from harm.

For example, the boys’ grandmother occasionally received photos and updates from Cooney and Hamber, and she became concerned the boys had “limited food and contact with others” — which she reported to CAS, the lawsuit says.

The boys had also tried to tell Halton CAS workers about the abuse, including starvation, but they didn’t investigate, alleges the statement of claim, which didn’t provide specifics.

The murder trial has heard Hamber and Cooney had informed a Halton CAS worker they were zip-tying the boys into onesies and wetsuits, but Halton CAS didn’t appear to take issue with it.

The agency also received reports from teachers, a therapist, doctors and the police with concerns about the situation in the home. A CAS worker, who saw L.L. on virtual calls in the months before he died, noted concerns about his thinness and that he was crying, but didn’t intervene.

Despite red flags, Halton CAS never spoke to the boys without Hamber or Cooney present and only once did an unannounced home visit.

In previous statements to CBC Hamilton, both Halton and Ottawa children’s aid societies said following L.L.’s death, they completed an internal child death review, which they submitted to the Office of the Chief Coroner, and underwent several external reviews and made recommended changes. Neither CAS provided the results of the reviews or said what the specific changes were.

“We remain committed to learning everything we can about what happened in this case and implementing any changes that advance the safety and well-being of the children, youth and families we support,” said Halton CAS’s statement.

The civil proceedings are on hold while the criminal trial continues but will resume after there’s a verdict, said the family’s lawyer Brenda Hollingsworth.

Everything witnesses have said during the trial is under oath and can be used in the civil case, she said.

The Crown and defence are expected to make their closing arguments in March. Justice Clayton Conlan’s decision is expected later in the spring.”

Children’s Aid Society, couple in murder trial and doctors sued for $4M by family of 2 brothers
[CBC 2/5/26 by Samatha Beattie]