Editors note: On Feb. 6, 2026 Shardanae Cousins-Emily was found Guilty of second-degree murder after just over a day of deliberations.
Shardanae Cousins-Emily has admitted to killing her friend’s three-year-old son Yverson Belotte Junior, who was known as Quintanni or Quinn, in December 2023.
The question a jury must now deliberate is whether the fatal assault was manslaughter or murder.
At closing submissions Wednesday at the second-degree murder trial, Crown prosecutors and defence lawyers painted a very different picture of Cousins-Emily, who did not testify during the trial.
Defence lawyers Jacob Stilman and Roger Rowe told the jury that Cousins-Emily acknowledges responsibility for the tragic death of Quinn but never intended to kill Quinn, a boy whom they say she loved like her own son.
She has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder.
“This is a crime without motive, without purpose,” said Stilman. “It can only be understood as the product of a profound and unthinkable loss of control brought on by two things: she has a history of abusing alcohol and was under the influence at the time and she has a history of mental health instability.”
Crown prosecutors Rochelle Liberman and Carime Boehr argue Cousins-Emily, who was 22 at the time, was angry about the situation involving her own children and took it out on Quinn.
On Dec. 3rd, 2023, first responders were called to a fourth-floor apartment at 418 Dawes Rd. where they found Quinn unresponsive. The toddler was pronounced dead at the scene. Cousins-Emily had been babysitting her son’s friend for the weekend.
An autopsy revealed that Quinn died of blunt head trauma which caused his brain to bleed.
Liberman told the jury in her closing address that Quinn had approximately 40 injuries to his head and neck alone.
“His front two teeth had been torn from their socket. Quinn had bleeding in both of his eyes and in the nerves attaching the eyes to the brain. He had over 20 injuries on his upper limbs being his hands and arms. Some of his injuries were consistent with being defensive wounds,” said Liberman.
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Shania John, Quinn’s mother, testified she had left her toddler with Cousins-Emily for the weekend and knew that her friend would be taking Quinn to the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) on Saturday for a supervised visit with her own son.
The jury has heard that on Dec. 2, 2023, Cousins-Emily went to the CAS with Quinn for that visit and hours later, fatally assaulted Quinn while in the washroom of the CAS later that day.
Video surveillance from the CAS captured Cousins-Emily leaving the building after the visit, pushing Quinn in a stroller to the LCBO and into a nearby McDonald’s restaurant. She returned to the CAS around 3:30 p.m. where she was seen entering a women’s washroom on the main floor.
Amritparkash Singh, a security guard who was working at the CAS, testified at trial that he approached Cousins-Emily and the toddler after they emerged from the washroom and noticed the boy had an injury to his forehead. The guard asked her twice if he could get her first aid or an ambulance for the child, but testified Cousins-Emily declined.
Stilman argued that it should be inferred based on Cousins-Emily’s history of alcohol abuse that she was intoxicated at the time of the assault, given there is evidence she purchased two bottles of spirits totally 300 ml at the LCBO after leaving the CAS. Despite the fact no one saw Cousins-Emily drinking, Stilman said the jury can infer she drank the liquor off camera given she has a history of intoxication with a propensity to engage in destructive behaviour while intoxicated.
Stilman said one doctor testified at trial that in May 2023, Cousins-Emily trashed her own apartment, was apprehended by police and involuntarily hospitalized at Michael Garron Hospital. Her blood alcohol at the time, based on a blood sample taken in hospital, was roughly 139 mg of alcohol/100 ml of blood. The legal limit for driving is 80 mg/100 ml.
Defence also pointed to her fragile mental state, saying Cousins-Emily has a history of psychiatric admissions, symptoms of suicidality and trauma.
“She can become highly reaction and dysregulated,” said Stilman.
“In this case, Shardanae could not have the intent for murder. This incident could have only come about due to acute brief loss of self-control. The result of an extreme level of intoxication which heightened her emotional volatility,” said Stilman, calling it a difficult and troubling case.
Liberman countered that there was no evidence that Cousins-Emily was too intoxicated or mentally unwell to appreciate what she was doing.
“The sheer number of injuries and the horrific nature of them suggests she intended the likely consequences of her actions,” said Liberman.
She also pointed out that Cousins-Emily was able to converse with the security guard at the CAS, who noticed a wound on the boy’s forehead and declined his offer to call an ambulance.
“Mr. Singh, in no uncertain terms, told us that Ms. Cousins-Emily had no signs of impairment,” said Liberman, who pointed out that Quinn had approximately 40 injuries to his head alone.
Liberman also spoke about the one injury the security guard noticed. “This injury alone is enough for anyone to know that Quinn needed attention and Ms. Cousins-Emily denied him that and that is reckless.”
Liberman also refuted a text that Cousins-Emily sent to Quinn’s mother on the afternoon of Dec. 2, 2023, just prior to the assault in which she said she wanted to babysit Quinn every weekend and loved him like her own son.
“Remember, just prior, she messaged someone else complaining she was frustrated and in pain. We should query whether Ms. Cousins-Emily was being honest in her message to Quinn’s mother,” said Liberman.
In a WhatsApp message shown to the jury written by Cousins-Emily to unknown person around 2 p.m., just 90 minutes before the assault, Cousins-Emily wrote, “frustrated, in pain but babysitting. I’m here.”
Liberman told the jury the Crown believes that Cousins-Emily was upset because of the situation with her own child.
“In a text message filed by the Crown, you will see there was a six-month final order placing her son with her father. That was five days earlier. And on Dec. 2, 2023, after handing her son off to her father, Ms. Cousins-Emily was frustrated and took this out on Quinn.”
The Crown pointed out that after the “brutal attack,” Cousins-Emily covered Quinn’s face, changed his diaper and was coherent and sober enough to hide Quinn’s injuries on the subway ride home. “She knew to put his hoodie on backwards to conceal his face. Ask yourself why? Why would someone cover Quinn’s injuries if she didn’t know what she was doing?” said Liberman.
Liberman said Cousins-Emily was reckless with Quinn’s life when she didn’t accept the security guard’s offer for help and was reckless when she didn’t call 911 herself.
“I submit she intended to kill Quinn or intended to cause him bodily harm that she knew was likely to cause his death and was reckless as to whether his death ensued,” Liberman concluded.
The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Thursday.
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