A Superior Court judge became so emotional Friday while sentencing a woman who murdered her best friend’s toddler in the washroom of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) of Toronto that she had to leave the courtroom.
“This case involves the beating to death of a three-year-old child who was in the care of the offender, Ms. Cousins-Emily,” Justice Kelly Byrne said, appearing choked up, just over a minute after starting to read her reasons for sentence.
Byrne then stood up and walked out of the courtroom. A brief recess was then called at the sentencing for Shardanae Cousin-Emily.
Bryne returned to the courtroom three minutes later and said, “Thank you. I apologize”.
In February, 24-year-old Cousins-Emily was found guilty of second-degree murder of Yverson Belotte Junior, also known as Quintanni, or Quinn.
“Ms. Cousins-Emily had been entrusted with the care of three-year-old Quinn on this day, during which she beat him to death,” said Byrne, still clearly upset.
On Dec. 1, 2023, Quinn’s mother Shania John left Quintanni with Cousins-Emily for the weekend.
“The arrangement was that she would drop him off on Friday and pick him up on Sunday. This was not a new arrangement. Cousins-Emily had cared for him in the past and according to Shania, loved him as if he were her own child,” Byrne said, her voice quivering, with tears in her eyes.
Cousins-Emily took Quinn to the Children’s Aid Society building on Isabella Street for a supervised visit with her own son around 9:30 a.m. on Dec. 2, 2023.
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Byrne told court that video footage showed Quinn in the playroom of the CAS eating a muffin and walking around.
“Later that day, well after the visit ended, Cousins-Emily returned to the CAS building. The place was essentially empty except for one security guard. Video footage shows Ms. Cousins-Emily enter the washroom with Quinn, who was in the stroller at 3:19 p.m.. At 4:44 p.m., video footage shows Ms. Cousins-Emily exiting the washroom. Quinn is in the stroller, but he appears lifeless,” said Byrne, still overcome with emotion.
Quinn had no pants or shoes on and had his hoodie on backwards covering his entire face.
“There is no dispute that it was during this one hour and 15-minute period that Ms. Cousins-Emily brutally attacked and inflicted the injuries on Quinn that caused his death,” said Byrne.
The judge noted that Cousins-Emily declined help from a security guard who asked if she needed help or medical attention.
“She made her way home, put Quinn into her bed and the next day at noon called 911. Quinn was dead,” Byrne added.
The judge agreed with Crown attorneys Anna Standford and Carime Boehr, who asked for a life sentence with a parole ineligibility period of 18 years.
“I find that the circumstances surrounding this vicious, callous and cruel killing of an innocent, defenseless three-year-old toddler to be profoundly aggravating and worth of the highest consideration on sentence,” said Byrne.
While Cousins-Emily is a first-time offender and has faced many challenges in her life, Byrne said given the violence and aggravating circumstances in the murder of the child, the principles of denunciation and deterrence must dominate and justify the imposition of an elevated period of parole ineligibility.
Byrne also noted that Cousins-Emily has failed to demonstrate any accountability or remorse for the killing of Quinn. The judge said that despite expressing sadness, Cousins-Emily indicated to the authors of two pre-sentence reports that she has no memory of the killing due to her substance abuse at the time.
“In other words, she blacked out. That being sad, even a person without memory is still capable of taking responsibility, Ms Cousins-Emily has taken none,” said Byrne.
Defence lawyers Jacob Stilman and Roger Rowe said a 15-year period of parole ineligibility was appropriate.
Outside court, the toddler’s father, Yverson Belotte, said he is grateful to the judge, the prosecutors and police, for giving Quintanni a voice.
“Quintanni was three-years-old. He couldn’t speak so imagine how he was feeling, how he was getting beat inside the Children’s Aid Society and nobody did anything to save him,” said Belotte.
Belotte was wearing a pin with Quintanni’s smiling face on his chest. The pin said, “We are his voice. Justice for Quintanni.”
Belotte said his son could have been saved had the security guard called for help, or if one of the workers in the CAS asked questions about why Cousins-Emily was bringing a toddler to a supervised visit with her own child.
“They hired kids. Kids supervising kids inside the facility. If they had more workers there, all this could have been prevented and the security guard, if he had just locked the door and not let her leave, my son could have had a chance,” he said.
Belotte has launched a civil lawsuit against the CAS and others.
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