Watch above: Officers now say the death of a three-year-old boy in Mink Lake last June was criminal. As Fletcher Kent reports, charges have been laid against the boy’s mother.
EDMONTON – Charges have been laid against the mother of a three-year-old boy who drowned in a lake west of Edmonton last year.
Carmen Gaye Stewart, 42, of Edmonton has been charged with criminal negligence causing death, and failing to provide the necessaries of life.
“So in order to have grounds to lay those charges, one has to demonstrate a behaviour that is a marked departure from what a reasonable person would expect,” said Spruce Grove/Stony Plain RCMP Cpl. Colette Zazulak.
RCMP laid the charges after nearly a year of investigating and gathering information.
On the evening of June 30, 2013 an 11-year-old boy found the younger boy in the water at Mink Lake in Parkland County.
“They found him floating near a dock, unresponsive,” said Cpl. Zazulak.
“The 11-year-old boy screamed for help and several adults came.”
They began administering CPR until emergency crews arrived.
The boy was rushed to the Stollery Children’s Hospital in Edmonton, where he died the next day.
Cpl. Zazulak said the tragedy was troubling for all involved, and are issuing a plea as we head into summer.
“With the advent of lake season in Alberta, police would like to remind the community to always keep young children within arms reach when in the water.”
The mother is not being held in custody. She will make her first court appearance in Stony Plain on Wednesday, July 23.
Mink Lake, located about 15 kilometres southwest of Stony Plain, is a popular summer camping and swimming spot.
With files from Slav Kornik and Patricia Kozicka.
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