Crown, defence make final arguments in baby-killing trial; judge’s verdict expected in April

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This article was published 22/03/2024 (591 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A judge must decide whether a man is guilty of manslaughter in the death of his infant son, who had suffered a traumatic brain injury.

Mathieu Moreau, 34, was arrested days after his son, Maven, was taken off life-support Jan. 15, 2020.

He pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault in front of Court of King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond at the beginning of his three-week trial earlier this month.

The child’s mother, 26-year-old Evelyn Gillis, and Moreau had been dating just a matter of months before she became pregnant and the two moved in together. Maven was born a month premature on Oct. 17, 2019.

Gillis was out to dinner in Osborne Village when Moreau called her parents, then 911, to report their son was having trouble breathing in his crib in their Nassau Street apartment shortly after 9 p.m. on Jan. 11, 2020.

On Friday, defence lawyers Bruce Bonney and Kaitlynn Porath and Crown prosecutors Jennifer Mann and Sarah Murdoch offered their final arguments about the circumstances of the three-month-old’s death.

The defence and prosecution agree that Maven’s death of a brain injury was a homicide — an intentional act — but disagree about how his injuries occurred, though only Moreau and Gillis could have caused them.

Murdoch told Bond Maven’s injuries must have occurred at the hand of Moreau. She said he was evasive while testifying, while Gillis was a diligent and attentive mom.

“Mr. Moreau, who was financially stressed, tired from working two jobs, and being up the night prior with Maven and being out all day, and unhappy that he had to come home from playing with the band that he saw less frequently since Maven had been born, lost control with Maven,” Murdoch alleged to Bond.

“He violently assaulted Maven, which resulted in the fatal head injury… and the tibia fractures. There was a rapid onset of symptoms and Maven immediately went into distress.”

Murdoch alleged that he tried to conceal what he did.

Defence lawyer Bonney told Bond that there is a reasonable doubt as to whether Moreau caused the injuries, telling the court medical evidence suggests Maven could have been fatally injured earlier, prior to Moreau discovering him in distress.

“In our respectful view, it does not speak to an exclusive opportunity (to cause the injuries) on the part of Mr. Moreau,” said Bonney.

“This is a case, obviously, where you’ve got two witnesses (Moreau and Gillis) that don’t say the same thing… one says she didn’t do it and the other says he didn’t do it.”

In the month before his death, Maven was twice injured while alone in his father’s care, including the day before he was rushed to hospital, Gillis previously testified.

Gillis testified Moreau had been watching Maven when she returned home and he hurried off to pick up a work cheque.

Gillis told court she heard Maven waking up and when she checked on him, found he had a puffy lip. When she opened the child’s mouth, she saw blood and what looked like a hole or tear in the frenulum, the piece of tissue that connects the tongue to the floor of the mouth.

The woman said when she reached him by phone, Moreau blamed the injury on a toy Gillis had left in the child’s crib, which was disputed by a doctor called to testify by the Crown. Prosecutors contend the injury was caused by Moreau forcing a baby bottle into the child’s mouth.

Gillis called her father and took Maven to the hospital, where a doctor prescribed Tylenol, and they took the baby home. The Crown is seeking for Moreau to be found guilty of assault, a lesser charge than aggravated assault, for the mouth injury.

Moreau previously testified that he had gone for a nap, then heard Maven gurgling in his crib when he went to the washroom after waking up. He burped him after seeing infant formula come from his mouth and nose, he told court, before calling for help.

Bond will deliberate for several weeks. She’s expected to issue her verdict April 26.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca