WATCH: A Surrey toddler is dead and the file has been taken on by the Integrated Homicide Investigation Team. Police are calling the death suspicious but now her mother is speaking out, saying otherwise. Jeremy Hunka reports.
The mother of Charlee Johanson, the three-year-old who died in Surrey yesterday, is devastated over the tragic events of the past week.
“I wish I could have traded places with her, just so she could live and be with her sister. Everyone loves her,” said Jennifer Johanson today.
“This feels like a complete nightmare that I can’t wake up from.”
Charlee was rushed to hospital on February 11, but succumbed to her injuries yesterday. Jennifer says Charlee fell off a laundry basket and bumped her head on February 10, but seemed to be fine.
However, the next day she was dizzy and had a loss of appetite. A seizure soon followed and Charlee was rushed to hospital.
READ MORE: IHIT investigating death of a 3-year-old girl in Surrey
IHIT says there are questions about the death and they are investigating. But Johanson says there was no malice involved.
“She’s a three-year-old. How many three-year-olds have you seen that don’t like to jump on things? I don’t understand why,” she said, before breaking into tears.
“I don’t know.”
This isn’t the first time Global News has spoken to Jennifer. In May 2013, she was caught on camera making racially-charged comments to a demonstrator outside the Cloverdale Rodeo.
IHIT spokeswoman Sgt. Stephanie Ashton says it could take some time to determine what happened and if charges will be laid.
“There’s something about this that doesn’t make sense. The hardest part for the public, and for us, is that it can take days for us to find out what that really means,” said Ashton.
“Sometimes something that’s suspicious turns out not to be, and sometimes it turns out that it is.”
Jennifer is emphatic that in this case, it’s the former.
“Why would I give birth to a child that I want to harm? I don’t understand.”