A 35-year-old Edmonton woman has been arrested and charged in connection with the drowning death of a five-year-old girl on Wabamun Lake last month.
In a news release issued Friday, the RCMP said Mary Quinn has been charged with failing to provide necessities of life. She was arrested on Wednesday.
The girl died on Oct. 13 at Moonlight Bay on Wabamun Lake. The lake is located about 70 kilometres west of Edmonton.
Police said officers were first called to the scene just before 3 p.m. that day after receiving a report about a canoe that had flipped over. At the time, it was believed two people were on the boat.
According to the RCMP, a young girl was recovered from the water by bystanders before police and paramedics arrived. She died despite the life-saving efforts of paramedics. The other person who had been in the canoe was a woman who was pulled from the water by someone on another boat.
On Oct. 17, police provided an update and said investigators no longer believe the canoe capsized and confirmed they were “continuing to treat this fatal incident as a criminal investigation.”
On Oct. 29, police said the child’s death had been deemed “suspicious” and that the RCMP’s major crimes unit had taken over the investigation.
On Friday, the RCMP said Quinn had been remanded into custody. She is scheduled to appear in court on Nov. 20.