Three-year-old Hunter Haze Straight Smith has been taken off life support and has died, according to his family.
He was stabbed on Wednesday morning while he slept in his Pritchard Avenue home.
He was rushed to hospital, but his aunt Bianca Smith says he was brain dead and was taken off life support Saturday afternoon.
She says he took his last breath around 4 p.m.
Daniel Jensen, 33, was arrested and is facing charges of aggravated assault and attempted murder. He’s also charged with an earlier assault on the young child’s mother.
Investigators allege Jensen was with the child’s mother, Clarise Smith, at a Main Street bar earlier that day when the two got into a fight and she was assaulted.
Police say Jensen then went to a home in the 300 block of Pritchard Avenue, where the toddler was stabbed multiple times.
Smith said Thursday the family cannot understand why the child would have been targeted.
She said her nephew Hunter was smart, mischievous and happy. His mother is devastated, she added, and has stayed by the little boy’s side since he was brought to hospital.
“I have no words to describe it. Nothing like this has ever happened in the family,” Smith said.
“It’s hard, really hard, on everybody.”
Hunter’s mother and the suspect were previously in a relationship, but the accused is not the boy’s biological father.
Jensen was under a court order not to contact her and court records show he was charged with assault with a weapon and uttering threats in July.
Police spokesperson Const. Jay Murray said Friday if Hunter dies, charges against Jensen may be changed.
“Certainly if an individual passes away as the result of an assault, we will look at upgrading charges,” he said.
“This incident has been incredibly tough for all levels of emergency personnel.”
–With files from The Canadian Press