An inquiry report by a provincial court judge into the 2013 death of an infant in foster care made no recommendations as it found the foster parents did nothing wrong in the case.
Dani Isabella Jean died on May 4, 2013 at six weeks old while in the foster care of Cheraty and Eric Martin.
The primary focus for Judge Greg Lepp in the report was whether the Martins shared a bed with Dani the morning she died, which was the only potential avoidable risk factor in the case. But Lepp found there was no bed sharing.
According Lepp’s report, Dani slept in her crib the morning she passed away. At about 5 a.m., Cheraty Martin brought her into the couple’s bed and cradled the infant for about 10 minutes.
The report suggested this isn’t considered bed sharing.
READ MORE: Mother questions bed-sharing death of 6-week-old baby girl in foster care
During the inquiry, Martin said she did not fall asleep while holding Dani.
“I remember she looked very peaceful, just sleeping.”
The reported stated the foster mother left Dani on top of the bed covers to check on another child while her husband slept. Martin was gone for about a minute, according to the report.
The report noted this is also not considered bed sharing.
“The risk of suffocation comes, according to Dr. Bannach, when the baby is not breathing for four or five minutes,” Lepp wrote.
“To comply with the absolute letter of safe sleep recommendations, Dani could have been put back in her crib but Ms. Martin, and all responsible mothers, live in the real world.”
“She did not put Dani at risk by doing what she did.”
When Cheraty came back, she said she woke her husband.
“He went to pass her to me, her arm fell out of the blanket… He pulled her back into himself and turned on the light. He knew something wasn’t right.
“I could see her eye was fogged over. She had a greyish colour to her.”
“We both just saw her and said, ‘oh my God.’”
An ambulance took Dani to hospital where she was pronounced dead. The medical examiner concluded Dani died from undetermined causes.
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Lepp wrote that despite statements in various reports that Dani was taken into the Martins’ bed at 3:00 a.m. that morning and that she was found wrapped in the covers or sheets, there is no first hand evidence that supports such statements.
“This inquiry highlights, in vivid colour, the danger of relying on hearsay evidence that cannot be shown circumstantially to be reliable,” the report read.
Lepp also stated that “Dani was almost certainly already dead when Ms. Martin took her from the travel crib.”
The investigative review into the death of Dani led to the Child and Youth Advocate recommending the province implement a clear policy directing foster parents not to share their beds with infants.
The August 2014 report – Baby Dawn: Bed-Sharing with Infants in Foster Care – and its recommendation was accepted by the Ministry of Human Services.
However, the fatality report suggested that none of the changes would have prevented Dani’s death since the Martins followed “safe sleep practices…even by today’s standards.”
The fatality inquiry report concluded that Dani died inexplicably despite the best care being provided, which is the reason no recommendations were made based on the case.
Dani had been put in foster care three weeks after she was born from her biological parents, Kuna Sauve and Paul Jean, due to concerns about possible risk of abuse.
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