Baby’s mother charged with manslaughter after fatal dog attack

ST-HYACINTHE, Que. – The mother of the three-week-old baby killed Monday after being mauled by one or more dogs has been charged with manslaughter.

The 17-year-old was released Tuesday afternoon but isn’t allowed to be in charge of children under the age of 12 while awaiting trial. Her lawyer, Andre Williams, said he was very surprised by the manslaughter charge, which he said will be very difficult for the Crown to prove.

He said the Crown should have given the mother – who was treated for shock on Monday night – time to grieve the loss of her baby before proceeding with criminal charges.

"She’s completely demolished," Williams told reporters outside the courtroom, where several friends of the mother turned up to offer support.

The baby’s mother and 37-year-old grandmother, had been smoking on a balcony close to their kitchen Monday, where the baby was seated in a portable car seat when the dogs attacked the child, Williams said on Tuesday.

The baby’s grandmother was released and will not face charges.

Police confirmed Monday the infant was pronounced dead inside a home in St-Barnabe Sud, a small community about 70 kilometres northeast of Montreal late in the afternoon.

The teenager, her boyfriend, the baby’s father – who was not on the property at the time of the attack – had moved into the house on June 1, Williams said.

The two lived there with two other couples, one of which owns the home, he said.

Guy Vaillamcourt was across the street Monday night and was shaken by the tragedy that had unfolded nearby.

"I saw so many police cars, and I didn’t know what was happening," he said, glancing at two SQ officers stationed at the end of his driveway. "But when they started talking about dogs, I knew right away which dogs they were talking about. My wife came outside one night not long ago after she heard them, thinking they were wild animals. They were two huskies, a male and a female."

Vaillamcourt said the dogs had escaped twice recently, but were not noticeably aggressive.

"I thought, they could cause an accident on the highway, running across that way. But not something like this."