Man accused in toddler son's death inept parent, not murderer, defence says

A man accused of killing his 19-month-old son and leaving him outside an Edmonton church was an inept parent but not a murderer, hisdefence lawyer says.

The toddler's lifeless body was found outside the Good Shepherd Anglican Church in April 2017.

Joey Crier and his then-girlfriend Tasha-Lee Doreen Mack were each charged with second-degree murder in the death of Anthony Joseph Raine.

• Edmonton woman guilty of manslaughter in death of toddler Anthony Raine

Defence lawyer Alexandra Seaman admitted duringclosing arguments Friday that Crier was negligent, failed to provide the necessaries of life and left Anthony outside the church. But she said the Crown had not established intent, which would be needed to prove second-degree murder.

"The ultimate inquiry that this court must grapple with is whether Mr. Crier is guilty of murder or guilty of manslaughter," Seaman told Queen's Bench Justice David Labrenz. "There is an admission that this is, in fact, manslaughter."

Seaman said it's not known exactly how the boy died.

"It's not the court's function to guess," she said.

Crown prosecutor Allison Downey-Damato told the judge she and her colleague, Monica Sabo, have proved their case.

"The facts of this case are reasonably straight forward," Downey-Damato said Friday.

She said both Crier and Mack owed a duty of care to Anthony but the evidence shows Crier abused the boy and Mack might have participated behind the closed door of a bedroom.

'He was murdered'

"Against the backdrop of abuse and animus toward Anthony, he was murdered," Downey-Damatosaid.

The medical evidence, she said, showed the boy had suffered multiple blows to his head. That trauma damaged the nerves in his brain, which contributed to his death.

"Anthony's body tells us what happened to him," she said. "This was not a loss of control. This was a baby who was subjected to a series of ongoing assaults."

• Edmonton murder trial hears child found outside church had head trauma, bruises

She said Crier didn't ask for help and kept Anthony hidden and isolated until he was abandoned outside the church. The evidence showed Anthony did not die immediately.

"His death was three to 18 hours later," she said. "His injuries would have been obvious and apparent to everybody. No one found him for three days."

Downey-Damato said the accused told police in an interview entered as evidence that Anthony said "daddy" as Crier walked away, but Crier acknowledged he didn't feel a bond or attachment to his son.

"He was alive when I left him," Crier told the homicide detective. "I'm telling you the truth about that. I gave him a kiss on the forehead and I put him down and told him 'I'm sorry I cannot take care of you.' I put him down and he just watched me walk away."

'He just watched me walk away"

5 years ago

Duration 0:28

Crier was interrogated by a homicide detective after he was arrested in October 2017. After two days of grilling, he finally made this admission about abandoning his son. Credit: Court exhibit/Edmonton Police Service

"He abandoned a brutally beaten baby," Downey-Damato said. "He intended to cause the bodily harm. An inference of intent can be drawn from his conduct and all of the facts and circumstances of this case. There's no other possible explanation."

Labrenz reserved his decision until Jan. 10.

Mack was found guilty of manslaughter last week. She is scheduled to be back in court next Friday to determine next steps before sentencing.