CAUTION: The following account involves accusations of child abuse.
Despite Brandy Cooney’s denial that she and her spouse never used food deprivation as a form of discipline on two boys under their care, text messages exchanged between the couple suggest otherwise, as argued by the Crown during their murder trial in Milton, Ontario.
During their trial in Milton, Ontario, for the alleged murder of a 12-year-old boy in their care, Brandy Cooney and Becky Hamber faced questioning for the third consecutive day regarding their treatment of the boys they were attempting to adopt, especially in the lead-up to the older boy’s tragic demise on December 21, 2022.
The lifeless body of the emaciated 12-year-old was discovered in his basement bedroom on that fateful night, where he later passed away in a hospital. Reports indicated that his weight had remained stagnant since he was six years old, and his growth had ceased, illustrating severe malnourishment.
Brandy Cooney and Becky Hamber, residents of Burlington, have been charged with first-degree murder, as well as confinement, assault with a weapon involving zip ties, and neglecting to provide basic necessities for the younger brother. Both women have entered not guilty pleas to all the charges.
To protect the identities of the Indigenous brothers involved, CBC Hamilton has assigned the pseudonyms L.L. and J.L. for the 12-year-old and his now 13-year-old sibling, respectively, due to a court-ordered publication ban.
Throughout the ongoing trial in Superior Court that commenced in mid-September, a significant query has revolved around the reasons behind L.L.’s severe malnutrition in the final year of his life. A pathologist’s testimony previously suggested that malnutrition could have been a contributing factor to, or the cause of, his untimely death.
During the year 2022, Cooney and Hamber informed various individuals, including representatives from the Children’s Aid Society (CAS), as well as medical professionals and therapists, that L.L. was grappling with an eating disorder characterized by regurgitation and reingestion of food.
However, in response to inquiries from assistant Crown attorney Monica MacKenzie, Cooney disclosed that L.L. had vomited on at least 30 occasions between June and November but had not sought any medical assistance for him.
MacKenzie probed further, asking if they had considered seeking medical help when L.L. experienced vomiting, to which Cooney responded in the negative, indicating that they had not consulted a family physician or visited the emergency department.
Defendants rebut claims of inadequate feeding
Cooney and Hamber, through their legal representatives, have asserted that L.L. and J.L. had developed an unhealthy relationship with food due to prior traumas, alleging that L.L. tended to pilfer and overeat when given the chance.
It was revealed in court that the women had resorted to locking the kitchen cupboards, regulating the boys’ meal times, and supervising their food intake due to these concerns.
When MacKenzie suggested that L.L.’s weight loss and stunted growth were a result of inadequate feeding and food deprivation by Cooney and Hamber, Cooney refuted the claim, asserting that they consistently provided the boys with sufficient food.