Woman accused in child’s drowning on Wabamun Lake facing manslaughter charge

An Edmonton woman accused in the drowning death of a five-year-old girl at an Alberta lake is facing an additional charge of manslaughter.

The accused, Mary Quinn, 35, was charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life after the child died in October at Wabamun Lake west of Edmonton.

Quinn was supposed to be under house arrest at the time and didn’t get permission from her bail supervisor to go to the lake on Oct. 13.

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An Alberta Justice spokesperson said Quinn appeared in Stony Plain provincial court Wednesday, and now faces a charge of manslaughter.

RCMP had initially said a girl and a woman were pulled from the lake after a canoe overturned and that the child died at the scene in Parkland County.

Days later, Mounties said they’d learned the canoe didn’t capsize and were treating the drowning as criminal.

Quinn is to next appear in court on Feb. 19.

0:48 Woman arrested in connection with child’s death at Wabamun Lake