Foster mother told police dead toddler hurt himself

The foster mother of a three-year-old who died at her Edmonton home told police the boy threw himself on the bathroom floor during a tantrum, according to court documents.

The 32-year-old woman is charged with second-degree murder, failure to provide the necessities of life and child abandonment.

The little boy was taken off life support on Jan. 27.

A police detective filed information about the case with the courts the day before the child died in order to obtain a search warrant.

According to the document, the foster mother told police in a written statement that the toddler woke up at 2 a.m. screaming and said he had to go to the bathroom.

Inside the bathroom, the boy started throwing himself against the wall and at the floor, she wrote. She says she tried to stop him from hurting himself, but he fought back, punching and kicking and he finally broke free and threw himself on the floor.

"He stopped moving," she wrote.

She called emergency services and she and a nanny, who had been recently hired to work in the home, tried to revive him, she wrote.

"While awaiting EMS, we tired to stimulate his breathing by startling him, clapping and calling his name."

In the document, the detective writes that a doctor told him the foster mother's explanation doesn't match the boy's injuries — multiple bruises and a traumatic brain injury.

The foster mother is a registered nurse who has been a foster parent since September, according to the document. She had two biological children and a second foster child in her care when the boy was injured. All are now in the care of Alberta Children's Services.

The foster mother, who can't be named under Alberta's Child, Youth and Family Enhancement Act, will appear in court again next week.

The woman's lawyer, Shannon Prithipaul, has asked the public to be patient and not judge the accused too quickly, saying there is another side to the story that will eventually come out in court.