Man charged in deaths of mother, girl has record of trafficking, prostitution

Missing five-year-old Taliyah Marsman’s body was discovered on a rural property east of the city on Thursday. (Facebook photo).

CALGARY—As the family of a slain woman and her five-year-old daughter struggled to come to grips with their “inconceivable and senseless murders,” details emerged Friday about the criminal record dating back 20 years of the man charged in the deaths.

Court records show Edward Delten Downey was convicted in 2008 of trafficking cocaine and possession of an unauthorized firearm. He was sentenced to four years.

Downey, who also went by the last name Simmonds, was sentenced to 18 months for aiding and abetting prostitution in 1998. He was fined $250 for using a stolen credit card in 1990.

He also faced several other charges over the years related to stolen property, drugs, weapons and prostitution, but they were withdrawn.

Police charged Downey, 46, late Thursday with first-degree murder in the slayings of Sara Baillie, 34, and her daughter Taliyah Marsman.

Baillie was found slain in her home on Monday and an Amber Alert was issued when Taliyah could not be found. The child’s body was discovered on a rural property east of the city on Thursday.

Police said earlier that Downey knew the victims’ family. Court documents filed when he was charged say he is not allowed to contact Taliyah’s father, Colin Marsman.

Downey’s next court appearance is scheduled for Wednesday.

“We all are feeling the most profound grief and sadness that stems from the inconceivable and senseless murders,” said a statement released through police from Baillie’s relatives, some of whom had publicly pleaded for Taliyah’s safe return.

The statement also thanked police, family, friends and people on social media.

“All your words, thoughts and prayers will continue to see us through these darkened times.”

Christopher Johnson, a cousin of Taliyah’s father, was on his way to visit family. He said everyone is devastated.

“It feels so disgusting how someone could do something like that to a baby and to her mother,” Johnson said.

He and others in the family have no idea who Downey is, he added.

Jenn Onavka, a friend of Baillie’s who has set up an online fundraising page for her relatives, said she hadn’t heard of Downey before and neither had Taliyah’s godmother.

“They did not deserve this,” Onavka said in a Facebook message.

Visitors stopped by a growing memorial of flowers and stuffed animals outside the house where Baillie and her daughter shared a basement suite.

Many of the visitors from the neighbourhood didn’t know Baillie or Taliyah personally, but were rattled by the news.

Amber Brignall took her daughter Madison, 3, to drop off some flowers. Madison and Taliyah went to the same daycare and Brignall said she’d run into Baillie when the mothers picked up and dropped off their kids.

Madison is too young to understand what happened to her friend, but has been pointing at the TV whenever she has seen Taliyah’s face, Brignall said.

“She just says Taliyah’s going to come back to daycare.”

Investigators were collecting more evidence Friday in the area where the girl was found.

“There’s … lots of work to still do,” a sombre Insp. Don Coleman said late Thursday at a news conference after Taliyah’s body was discovered near a road beside a field. No effort had been made to bury the girl.

Coleman said the investigation has concluded Taliyah was already dead by the time police had been called Monday by concerned family when Baillie didn’t show up for work.

He said it’s believed Baillie was the primary target. The cause of Taliyah’s death was not known. An autopsy was to be done Friday.

Prime Minister Justin Trudeau and Alberta Premier Rachel Notley, both in Calgary for the Stampede, offered their condolences.

“We all need to take a moment to send our love and hearts out to Taliyah and Sara’s family,” said Trudeau.

“There were so many volunteers and police services involved in trying to help a terrible situation.”

“In the face of such senseless and tragic loss we reach out with love and with a desire to help each other,” Notley said.

Calgary Mayor Naheed Nenshi simply added: “Our hearts are all broken.”

Taliyah had last been seen by her relatives on Sunday, and security cameras captured her and her mother at a Dairy Queen later that day.

The next morning, a girl matching Taliyah’s description was seen near the family’s home with a man. She was carrying a suitcase.

Police Chief Roger Chaffin said 100 officers had been working around the clock the last number of days.

“Unfortunately they are completely devastated by the loss, as am I,” he said.