Anguish grips mother of slain 7-year-old girl
Anguish grips mother of slain 7-year-old girl
Published on Monday August 04, 2008
The mother of a 7-year-old girl found dead early Sunday morning was visibly distraught after a hearing today for the 29-year-old woman facing murder charges in the case.
"I'm gonna kill her!" Bernice Sampson shouted, limping out of the Old City Hall courthouse this morning after seeing Donna Irving, who is charged with second degree murder in the death of Katelynn Sampson.
Irving appeared in a jam-packed courtroom this morning, where a date was set for her next court appearance. She will appear at the College Park courthouse Aug.15, when a date will be set for a bail hearing in superior court, Crown Attorney Rick Nathanson confirmed.
Sampson, along with eight friends and family members, sat at the front benches, visibly upset.
After Irving's court appearance, Sampson ran outside followed by her friends, with screams of "murderer" echoing down the hallway. They got into a black Pontiac and drove off.
Earlier in the morning, Katelynn's maternal aunt Pamela States broke down in front of the courthouse.
"My baby didn't know, my baby didn't know," she sobbed as she collapsed to the ground. "I'm very sorry."
Police were called to an apartment at 105 West Lodge Ave., near Lansdowne Ave. and Queen St. W. by a 911 call around 2:30 Sunday morning.
Irving had reported to 911 operators that the 7-year-old girl was choking on food.
Police found the girl without vital signs and pronounced her dead.
The officers who responded to the call contacted homicide investigators after finding signs of obvious trauma to much of the girl's body.
Soon afterwards, police arrested Irving, who was alone in the apartment with the victim at the time, and charged her with second-degree murder.
Irving was coherent as she was arrested and has no history of mental illness, Toronto homicide Det. Sgt. Steve Ryan said at a press conference Sunday. She had been granted sole custody of Katelynn in January but Ryan could not confirm how or why.
He said Irving was living with her boyfriend — who Bernice Sampson identified as her friend Warren Johnson — and their two biological sons, who were not harmed and are with their father. The father has been co-operative with police and is not a suspect, Ryan said.
Irving has two other underage children who do not live with her, he said.
She has a criminal record that involved "some violence," he said.
Bernice Sampson, who recently lost her mother and had found transitory joy dancing at Caribana Saturday night, said outside the apartment Sunday that Katelynn, who was going into Grade 3 at Parkdale Public School, was living with the couple while she sorted out her life.