Jury finds Manitoba dad guilty of manslaughter in toddler’s death

Crown prosecutors said that Williams may not have abused the toddler, but his inaction contributed to her death. (Pixabay photo)

WINNIPEG – A Manitoba father has been found guilty of manslaughter in the death of his 21-month-old daughter.

A jury in Winnipeg deliberated for about three hours before delivering its verdict Monday evening for Daniel Williams in the 2014 death of Kierra Elektra Starr Williams on the Peguis First Nation.

Court heard how Kierra’s body showed months of abuse including a dislocated shoulder, broken bones, missing teeth and malnourishment.

Her mother, Vanessa Bushie, received a life sentence with no chance of parole for 14 years for second-degree murder last year.

Crown prosecutors said that Williams may not have abused the toddler, but his inaction contributed to her death.

The defence argued that Williams didn’t know the abuse was happening and could not have foreseen the killing.

Kierra was seized at birth by child welfare workers. She was returned to the family in the summer of 2013 but the trial heard from other family members who said the toddler’s mother hit, kicked, and dragged the child, as well as locked her in a room.

Kierra died on July 17, 2014 of blunt force trauma to the abdomen and internal blood loss, court heard.

Defence attorney Greg Brodsky told the jury that Williams didn’t intervene earlier because he didn’t know about the injuries and he didn’t want his other children apprehended by Child and Family Services.

But Crown prosecutor Daniel Chaput argued that while Williams was not home on the day his daughter died, he must have been aware the toddler was weakened from repeated and prolonged abuse.

He said Williams could have stopped it but “he made a choice to do nothing when he knew that something needed to be done.”

Instead of bringing her to a hospital or asking for help, the Crown argued Williams hid Kierra away in their trailer on the First Nation and “made a decision not to protect her.”

Doctors had testified that Kierra was more vulnerable to blood loss because of her injuries and anemia caused by malnutrition.