Background: One of the victim”s rooms in a photo taken after he died and filed as a court exhibit. (Ontario Superior Court in Milton, Ontario). Inset: Brandy Cooney and Becky Hamber (Facebook).
A Canadian couple stands accused of inflicting severe abuse on their foster child, leading to his tragic death in a locked basement room, found emaciated and drenched.
In a trial that commenced in mid-September, authorities laid out disturbing allegations against Brandy Cooney, 43, and Becky Hamber, 45. Both women have entered pleas of not guilty to charges including first-degree murder, forcible confinement, assault with a weapon, and neglecting to provide essential care.
The heartbreaking discovery of the 12-year-old boy, identified as L.L., occurred on December 21, 2022, within the Milton, Ontario residence shared by Cooney and Hamber, as reported by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Prosecutors argue that L.L.’s death resulted from ongoing maltreatment by those charged with his welfare.
According to courtroom testimony, the women subjected L.L. and his younger sibling, J.L., to a regime of hatred, abuse, and neglect. The prosecution detailed how the boys were allegedly made to wear wetsuits secured with zip ties, confined to their rooms under constant surveillance, forced to sleep in tents, and fed only pureed baby food, as reported by The Independent.
In an attempt to bolster their case, prosecutors introduced text messages reportedly exchanged between the accused women.
Evidence presented in court included messages in which L.L. was derogatorily called a “loser” and an “idiot.” Additional texts showed Hamber referring to herself as “Officer Hamber,” describing the care environment as “Hamber Cooney prison.” One of the women allegedly expressed a wish that one of the boys would “get an infection,” according to a report.
The boys were indigenous, moved from their long-term foster home to Hamber and Cooney’s care in 2017. By the time of that fateful December 2022 night, the women reportedly planned to adopt them.
On Dec. 21, 2022, paramedics arrived at the women’s home to find L.L. unresponsive, soaking wet, and covered in vomit. He was reportedly so emaciated that, though he was 12 years old at the time, he looked like he could have been 6.
He was brought to an area hospital, where he died.
L.L. may have died from hypothermia or cardiac arrest due to severe malnourishment, a pathologist said, but his exact cause of death was uncertain.
J.L., who is now 13 years old, testified in the trial, telling the court that Hamber and Cooney instructed him to repeat false claims that his and L.L.’s previous foster family abused them. He also said that at some point in his five-year stay with the couple, he was kept in his room 90% of the time and given only pureed food.
Cooney and Hamber’s attorneys have attempted to paint the case as two foster parents simply trying to do the best they could with children with special needs. As the defense tells it, the tents could be therapeutic, the wetsuits were to prevent bathroom accidents, and they gave the kids pureed food based on a recommendation from a mental health worker.
But other witnesses’ testimony suggested the women were to blame for L.L.’s death. Heather Walsh, who was a foster parent of the two boys before they were moved to Cooney and Hamber’s care, said that although L.L. had his difficulties, he was “a very enthusiastic, social little guy” and had improved mightily before leaving her care.
“I think if someone else had adopted them, [L.L.] would be alive today,” she said.
The trial is expected to last until at least mid-December.
