A B.C. man has pleaded guilty in the case of a two-year-old girl fatally poisoned by snake venom.
Henry Thomas, 51, entered the plea to one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life in a North Vancouver court on Thursday, according to the B.C. Prosecution Service.
Thomas is slated to face sentencing on Oct. 3, 2019.
The tragic case unfolded on May 18, 2014, while Henry, a resident of Seabird Island in Agassiz, was taking care of Aleka Esa-Bella Scheyk Gonzales.
North Vancouver RCMP said Henry returned the girl to her mother’s home in North Vancouver in the early hours of the morning.
At 5 a.m. the next day, the girl’s mother discovered she was dead and called the RCMP.
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In July 2015, Mounties executed a search warrant at Thomas’ Agassiz home, where “snakes and related equipment were seized,” said the North Vancouver RCMP in January.
DNA testing was conducted in 2016 and 2017, with results indicating the girl died of exposure to snake venom.