The trial of two Canadian parents accused of the murder of their foster son has taken a disturbing turn with new allegations surfacing in court.

Brandy Cooney, 43, and Becky Hamber, 45, are facing multiple charges, including first-degree murder, unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon, and failure to provide the necessaries of life. Both women have entered pleas of not guilty to all charges.

During her testimony this week, Cooney claimed that she and her partner were devoted caregivers to the 12-year-old boy, identified as L.L., and his younger brother, J.L. She insisted that they did their utmost to care for the children despite challenging circumstances. According to a report by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, Cooney confessed to restraining the boys, arguing it was necessary because the children had been injurious to themselves and others, and had issues with incontinence.

“Yes, I did zip-tie the end of [their wet suit] sleeves to stop them from using their hands to choke themselves out,” she reportedly testified, adding that they sometimes secured helmets to the boys’ heads with zip-ties to prevent self-harm.

As previously reported by Law&Crime, the women are accused of subjecting the boys to harsh conditions, such as forcing them into zip-tied wet suits, making them sleep in tents, feeding them only pureed food, and exchanging derogatory messages about them.

Cooney asserted that using restraints was a measure of last resort, according to courtroom reporters, but she conceded that the boys were restrained frequently.

Prosecutors told the courtroom that the boys were locked in their bedrooms for 18 hours at times, and bells were placed above doors in the house so the women knew where the boys were. Assistant Crown Attorney Monica MacKenzie also threw cold water on the claim that the kids hurt the adults.

“The reasons for restraints and locking them in their rooms was because you were so worried about injury to you or Hamber, or the boys or pets — injuries which never happened?” asked MacKenzie.

“There were a lot of injuries over the years,” Cooney replied. “We were often hit, punched, kicked, stuff thrown at us.”

“But not to the extent that you had to seek medical attention?” continued MacKenzie.

“No,” responded Cooney.

On Dec. 21, 2022, L.L. was found unresponsive, soaking wet, and covered in vomit in Cooney and Hamber’s Milton, Ontario, home. 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 later pronounced dead — possibly from hypothermia or cardiac arrest due to severe malnourishment, a pathologist said, but his exact cause of death was uncertain.

According to prosecutors, on March 11, 2022, Cooney messaged Hamber, “Can I just not feed at all?”

Hamber allegedly responded, “No food unless calm,” the CBC reported.

A month later, Hamber reportedly told Cooney that J.L. needs to eat before bed because the boys “can’t be skeletons.”

The women “hated, abused, and neglected” L.L. and his brother J.L. — who is now 13 and who testified during the trial — the prosecution said in court, per The Independent. The boys were Indigenous, moved from their long-term foster home to Hamber and Cooney’s care in 2017, and were apparently about to be adopted by the couple when L.L. died.

Other alleged pieces of evidence have been presented in the courtroom. Two days before L.L. died, someone in the home searched on Google via an iPad, “I hate my child.” Days before that, another search apparently read, “I did not love my adopted child.”

The trial began in mid-September. It is ongoing.