Mother told dead daughter she's sorry, court hears

AManitoba mother accused of killing her five-year-old daughter apologized to the youngster during an interview with police that was videotaped and played at the mother's jury trial inWinnipeg on Monday.

Samantha Dawn Kematch, and her boyfriend, Karl Wesley McKay,are being tried for first-degree murder in the death of Kematch's daughter,Phoenix Victoria Sinclair.

The Fisher River Indian Reserve residents were charged after the child's body was found on the reserve in 2006, nearly 10 months after she had last been seen.

On the videotape, Kematch starts talking to herself when the RCMP officer, who had been questioning her, leaves the room.

Holding a photograph and crying, she told her young daughter that she was sorry and that she loved her, the tape showed.

Kematch also said she knew she was being recorded and that what she was saying would be used later in court.

She said she was telling the truth because she could not hold it in forever.

"I can't deny it, I hurt myself, I hurt Phoenix, I hurt Wes [co-accused Karl Wesley McKay]," she said.

During opening statements last week, Crown attorney Rick Saulltold the courtthe little girl had suffered months of abuse before dying at the hands of her mother and McKay. After the girl died, he said her body was wrapped in plastic and buried in a wooded area near a landfill using a neighbour's shovel.

The couple hasbeen accused of covering up the slaying before applying for welfare in the dead child's name.

McKay's niece, Stephanie Roulette, told the court that Kematch and McKay asked her to bring her daughter to their place one day in 2006.They told her to have her daughter pretend she was Phoenix to fool welfare officials, she said.

The trial continues Wednesday and is expected to last until mid-December.

The death of the Fisher River child sparked an investigation by the province into its child welfare system. Fisher River is about 150 kilometres north of Winnipeg.