A Morinville-area toddler who died after she was in foster care was the victim of a homicide, according to the medical examiner.
The 21-month-old girl died on Wednesday after spending two days at the Stollery Children's Hospital.
Police launched a sudden death case on Wednesday after the young girl passed away, but changed it to a homicide investigation after the Medical Examiner's Office issued its conclusion Thursday afternoon following an autopsy.
Cpl. Wayne Oakes with the RCMP said officers in Morinville had been involved in the case earlier, but did not specify precisely when.
"The RCMP launched a formal investigation at the point in time when they became aware that child has suffered injuries that were likely to lead to the child's death."
The child had been in foster care for the last two months, according to the Edmonton Journal and had recently been shuttled between her regular foster home and another home, complicating the investigation.
Stuart Elson, a spokesperson with the department of Children's and Youth Services, said they were also launching a full investigation into the case.
"We are looking at our policies, procedures and standards and to see what our interaction was with this child."
Elson refused to confirm the number of foster families involved, the period of time the child was in care and even whether other children were living with the families providing care, citing both privacy concerns and the ongoing investigations.
"There is an investigation process going on right now. There is two — there is our own internal process and also the police investigation, so out of respect for that process we can't talk about specifics."
Elson said the case was extremely serious to the department.
"This situation is being thoroughly investigated and we are working closely with other authorities, like doctors and the police to determine exactly what happened."
RCMP were not releasing the cause of the young girl's death. Oakes said that specific evidence is important to the investigation.
"That will be a circumstance that in all likelihood will only be known to the person or persons responsible."
Troubling memories
A St. Albert mother has been in shock since she heard about the toddler's death because her own daughter died shortly after leaving a foster care home in the Morinville area.
Her 13-year-old daughter died less than six months after leaving provincial care. Born with a rare genetic disorder, the woman said provincial officials told her that her daughter needed to be in foster care to receive needed medical help.
After spending more than 10 years with a foster family, the woman, identified only as Jane, had her daughter returned.
Six months after the young girl came back to live with her biological family, she died of cardiac arrest.
Jane believes her daughter died because her foster parents ignored seizures that were an indicator of a serious medical condition.
The woman said she believes the entire system is flawed.
"These are not isolated incidents."
Since her daughter's death Jane has seen the system from the other side, acting as a foster parent to other children.
"I can tell you from our personal circumstances the children were dropped off with us and nobody came to check on these children."
The police are asking anyone with any information on the case to call Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS or the Morinville RCMP at 780-939-4550.
Oakes conceded with so little information currently available about the case, the public may not have information to bring forward, but said the police would be remiss not to ask for it.
