{"id":92351,"date":"2017-03-03T23:57:33","date_gmt":"2017-03-04T04:57:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=92351"},"modified":"2017-03-03T23:57:33","modified_gmt":"2017-03-04T04:57:33","slug":"mother-who-drugged-killed-daughter-asks-for-forgiveness-at-sentencing-hearing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2017\/03\/03\/mother-who-drugged-killed-daughter-asks-for-forgiveness-at-sentencing-hearing\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother who drugged, killed daughter asks for forgiveness at sentencing hearing"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"An<\/a>
An Alberta woman who drugged and killed her nine-year-old daughter begged the girl’s father and her own family and friends for forgiveness at a sentencing hearing Friday.(Photo: Bernard Spragg. NZ\/ <\/a>flickr)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

CALGARY\u2014An Alberta woman who drugged and killed her nine-year-old daughter begged the girl’s father and her own family and friends for forgiveness at a sentencing hearing Friday.<\/p>\n

Laura Coward, 50, pleaded guilty last month to the second-degree murder of Amber Lucius and is facing an automatic life sentence with no chance of parole for at least 10 years.<\/p>\n

\u201cI just want to say that every day, at every moment I miss my children … loved them more than everybody will ever understand,\u201d Coward said through tears.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to say to the father, my family, friends that I’m responsible for my choices and I beg for their forgiveness and I plead for your mercy,\u201d she told Justice Scott Brooker.<\/p>\n

Coward’s former husband, Duane Lucius, said earlier in a victim impact statement that he would never forgive Coward for the pain she has caused.<\/p>\n

\u201cI try to be strong for my family and friends,\u201d Lucius told Calgary Court of Queen’s Bench. \u201cI feel upset (about) how someone could do something like this to a little, innocent girl with a whole life ahead of her.\u201d<\/p>\n

Holding a picture of Amber, Lucius told court he misses his daughter’s warm hugs and thinks about her every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cI gave her mom time to spend with her, but Laura never thought it was enough. I will never forgive her and I will never forget my daughter Amber.\u201d<\/p>\n

The girl was reported missing Aug. 31, 2014, and her mother was arrested two days later near Sundre in west-central Alberta. She was standing outside a burned truck in which her daughter’s body was discovered.<\/p>\n

Coward had Amber for the weekend and, on a trip to a remote area, gave her a toxic but non-lethal dose of a prescription sleeping medication. She mistakenly thought Amber was dead and filled the truck \u2014 with Amber unconscious inside \u2014 with paper and plastic totes before setting it on fire with a propane torch and closing the door.<\/p>\n

An autopsy suggested the girl died of a combination of hypothermia, smoke inhalation and carbon monoxide toxicity.<\/p>\n

A police officer who came upon the burned vehicle saw a handwritten note on the outside of the driver’s door that read: \u201cHelp me. It was an accident. Locked keys in.\u201d<\/p>\n

Crown prosecutor Jillian Pawlow urged the judge to require Coward spend 20 years in custody before she can seek parole.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe Crown submits that the accused’s primary motivation was revenge-motivated, meant to inflict the most serious and permanent pain and anguish on Duane Lucius by depriving him of his only daughter,\u201d said Pawlow.<\/p>\n

Coward’s lawyer, Jim Lutz, argued his client should be allowed to apply for parole in 10 to 12 years. He suggested her guilty plea was an indication of remorse.<\/p>\n

Coward is to be sentenced March 10.<\/p>\n

A letter from Dale Coward on behalf of his sister was read into the court record.<\/p>\n

\u201cI have to believe that she has a mental-health illness in order for me to wrap my head around what has happened,\u201d Dale Coward wrote.<\/p>\n

\u201cI’m hoping during the time Laura is in jail she will get the help needed to recover from her illness … God willing I may be around when the time comes for Laura to reintregrate into the community and make a life.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo matter what happens she’s still my sister.\u201d<\/p>\n

Court documents described a bitter divorce between Coward and Lucius. A custody tug-of-war over their daughter had continued up until the girl was found dead.<\/p>\n

In June 2013, a judge had named Lucius as Amber’s primary caregiver and the girl moved back to his parents’ farm with him. Coward and another daughter from a previous marriage moved to a nearby rural property to be closer to Amber.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is a senseless and unimaginable nightmare. A stern message is required to deter both her and others that might find themselves in acrimonious proceedings,\u201d said Pawlow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis murder was not an accidental killing. She knew her actions were guaranteed to cause death.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CALGARY\u2014An Alberta woman who drugged and killed her nine-year-old daughter begged the girl’s father and her own family and friends …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":84791,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1482,18,16],"tags":[16116],"class_list":["post-92351","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-breaking","category-news-ca","category-news","tag-alberta-woman","mauthors-bill-graveland","mauthors-the-canadian-press"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92351","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=92351"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/92351\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/84791"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=92351"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=92351"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=92351"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}