The mother accused of killing her 11-year-old daughter and of attempting to kill her other daughter in April 2020, in the Villeray district of Montreal, will likely be found not criminally responsible on account of mental disorder. His trial, which was scheduled to begin this week at the Montreal courthouse, was called off Tuesday.
In the midst of the first wave of the pandemic, this tragedy shocked the public. The 35-year-old had stabbed her two daughters, 11 and 5, in their apartment. Only the youngest had survived the assault. The father had discovered the horror soon after. The influence of confinement in this drama remains unknown.
So it’s quite a twist, since a jury was to be selected Tuesday morning to try the mother, accused of second degree murder and attempted murder. A publication ban prohibits us from naming the accused to protect the identity of the children.
Judge Myriam Lachance has not yet rendered her decision, but the prosecution and the defense have agreed to find the accused not criminally responsible because of her mental disorder. According to two psychiatrists, the accused could not discern right from wrong when she committed the irreparable. They will testify this Friday.
“The psychiatrist who had been appointed by the public prosecutor met [l’accusée] three or four times for two weeks. The expert report of Dr [Gilles] Chamberland arrived Thursday and the conclusions are the same as the defense psychiatrist ”, explained in the press scrum the defense lawyer, Me Véronique Robert.
The testimonies of the experts, then of the father of the girls next week, therefore constitute formalities for the decision. “For next Friday, it will be over,” said Justice Lachance during the hearing.
The fate of the 35-year-old will then be in the hands of the Mental Disorders Review Board. “His future will be to be treated. She has already been treated for 18 months, ”said Me Robert, in the press.