Father, 34, convicted of killing infant daughter in 2016

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This article was published 11/06/2025 (288 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON — A Sioux Valley man has been found guilty of killing his infant daughter in 2016.

Keifer Mecas, 34, pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the death of 11-week-old Haelin Taylor and was the subject of a weeklong, judge-only trial in Brandon in April.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Scott Abel, in his ruling last week, said Mecas caused the death by using force that was “significant” and beyond the normal handling of an infant.

“The accused is convicted of the sole count on the indictment being manslaughter, having unlawfully killed Haelin Taylor,” Abel told court.

“I have determined that the cause of death was the application of significant force and an acceleration, deceleration event.”

Mecas testified he alone was watching the baby at a home in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation on Jan. 4, 2016 when he noticed “she wasn’t breathing.”

The baby was rushed to the Brandon hospital and then transported to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, where she died on Jan. 23.

Both parents were questioned by RCMP, and the baby’s death was ruled a homicide. Her cause of death was hypoxic ischemic brain damage due to traumatic brain injury, which means she suffered severe injuries to her brain, eyes and spinal cord.

Mecas was charged seven years later after witnesses — including the baby’s mother, Kara Taylor — came forward in 2022 alleging he had confessed to harming Haelin. On one occasion, he told Taylor and her cousin, “I did it, I hurt her.”

When Mecas was questioned in 2023, he denied making that comment.

In his summary, Justice Abel said the case relied on circumstantial evidence and testimony from two medical examiners and other witnesses.

In 2018, Mecas made statements to Taylor that the night before Haelin stopped breathing he observed vomit coming out of her mouth, and in the morning she “started choking.”

Court also heard that Mecas attempted to explain his daughter’s injuries to police, suggesting he was trying to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation by doing light compressions on her chest and blowing through her nose.

Abel rejected Mecas’s account, citing the testimony of two medical experts who conducted the autopsy and testified during the trial, pathologist Dr. Charles Littman and neuropathologist Dr. Marc Del Bigio.

“Even if I were to accept that Haelin stopped breathing first and the accused shook Haelin in an effort to revive her,” Abel said, “that explanation still does not create a reasonable doubt regarding cause of death.”

“Dr. Littman and Dr. Del Bigio both testified about the nature and extent of the injury suffered by Haelin to her brain, eyes and spinal cord. Those injuries were caused by the application of significant force, force beyond the ordinary handling of a child.”

Abel also pointed out that a doctor had examined Haelin one month before she died and confirmed she was healthy.

“No concerns were noted regarding Haelin’s health,” Abel said.

No sentencing date has been set.

— Brandon Sun