The boyfriend of a woman accused of killing a seven-year-old Toronto girl was charged with second degree murder Wednesday.
Warren Johnson, 46, lived with the accused woman, Donna Irving, and their two young sons, in the second floor apartment where Katelynn Sampson 's body was found early Sunday morning.
Meanwhile, Ontario politicians raised questions Wednesday about how a court allowed the young girl's mother to transfer custody to Ms. Irving, who had "violent crimes on her record," according to Homicide Detective Sergeant Steve Ryan.
"It's important to recognize that a full inquest is the only way that we're going to have the opportunity to look at all the facts and the details that need to be looked at," said Andrea Howath, the NDP's Children and Youth Services Critic. Police executed a search warrant on the apartment Tuesday evening, barely 24 hours before a warrant was issued for Mr. Johnson's arrest.
Seven-year-old Katelynn Sampson was Toronto's 39th murder victim. Her guardian has been charged in her death. (Saul Porto/For The Globe and Mail)
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Katelynn was found dead Sunday morning in the second-floor apartment of Ms. Irving, who had been entrusted with her care through the hands of the Children's Aid Society and Native Child and Family Services of Toronto, according to her mother, Bernice Sampson.
Ms. Irving was charged Sunday with second-degree murder and remains in police custody.
The round-faced third-grader slept on a bedroom floor and showed signs that she was assaulted on an ongoing basis, according to police.
By the age of 7, Katelynn Sampson was failed by at least two child service agencies and all the protections they are meant to offer, according to her family and the provincial child advocate.
With both agencies declining to comment on their involvement in Katelynn's case, exactly how the young girl slipped through cracks in the protocol and routine protections provided by child-service agencies remained unclear.
But the darkest details of her short life emerged through an autopsy performed at the Hospital for Sick Children.
On Tuesday night Homicide Detective Sergeant Steve Ryan told reporters the severity and nature of her injuries had caused the autopsy to take longer than expected.
He called the state of the child's body "probably the worst thing I've seen in 20 years of policing."
Irwin Elman, chief advocate for the Office of the Provincial Advocate for Children and Youth, said: "There are a number of points of protection and they all failed for Katelynn.
On Wednesday, Ontario's opposition parties joined the province's child advocate in demanding an inquest into Katelynn's death.
"When a child can simply be handed from one legal guardian to another with little or no scrutiny of the new guardian's background, there is a problem here," said Andrea Horwath, the NDP's children and youth services critic.
"Children aren't commodities."
Child Welfare has what's thought to be a pretty strict screening process."
That process generally includes a background check and a home inspection. But Donna Irving has "violent crimes on her record," Det. Sgt. Ryan said.
A spokesperson for CAS said confidentiality restrictions prevented discussion of Katelynn's case and referred reporters to the Native Child and Family Services agency.
"We are particularly concerned that Native Child and Family Services had something to do with the placement of Katelynn with Donna Irving," said Kenn Richard, the agency's executive director, adding that an internal review was being conducted.
