Mother pleads guilty in overdose death of one-year-old

A Winnipeg woman has admitted responsibility for the drug overdose death of her one-year-old daughter.

Sabrina Faye Boulette, 39, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last week on what was to be the first day of her trial.

“You are pleading guilty to manslaughter for failing to provide the necessaries of life for your daughter, resulting in her death,” defence lawyer Pam Smith put to Boulette when confirming her plea before provincial court Judge Darcie Yale.

“Yes,” Boulette replied.

No further details about the child’s death were provided to court.

Boulette, who remains in custody, will be sentenced at a later date following the completion of court-ordered reports on her background.

Boulette and the child’s father, 40-year-old Garry Daniel Adrian Bruce, were arrested in February 2024, after a yearlong investigation.

The couple’s daughter, Hanna Boulette, died in March 2023 after allegedly ingesting fentanyl at the family’s Stella Avenue home.

Bruce called 911 on March 23 to report that his daughter was unresponsive, Winnipeg Police Service spokesperson Const. Claude Chancy told reporters following the couple’s arrest.

Winnipeg Fire Paramedic Service members performed CPR on Hanna and took her to hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police initially arrested the parents on suspicion of criminal negligence causing death. Bruce also faced a drug possession charge, after a small amount of fentanyl was found on him.

Both were interviewed and returned home without being charged.

After Hanna’s death, the police child abuse unit determined both parents were not truthful during an interview, said Chancy.

Both were present in the home and were aware of Hanna’s fentanyl exposure for three hours before calling 911, he said.

Chancy said the parents tried to give first aid to the girl before seeking help.

“It’s important here that the amount of time that had passed, from where the parents were aware of the child’s fentanyl exposure to the time that 911 was called, was certainly a factor that may have played in the child’s death,” he told reporters.

Bruce, who is also charged with manslaughter, was denied bail Tuesday following a hearing before provincial court Judge Mary Kate Harvie.

Details of the hearing, including the reasons why Harvie denied Bruce bail, cannot be disclosed due to a publication ban.

A judge has three available grounds for denying an accused bail: they are a flight risk, they pose a danger to the community, or releasing them would bring the justice system into disrepute.

Bruce cried as defence lawyer Sam Green argued for his release. Later, he threw his head back and sighed loudly when Harvie rejected his bid for bail.

Bruce is set to stand trial in January.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca