CALGARY — A Crown prosecutor is calling for a Calgary couple who killed their badly burned and emaciated toddler to be sentenced to eight years in prison.
Sonya Pasqua and Michael Sinclair pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter in the death of Gabriel Sinclair-Pasqua. The 18-month-old died in 2021 from an infection and head trauma. He had major burns to a third of his body.
An agreed statement of facts says the parents didn’t seek medical treatment after the boy was scalded with boiling water and his burns were treated with honey.
A pediatric surgeon testified the burns would have required emergency medical care and immediate hospitalization.
Prosecutor Vicki Faulkner told a sentencing hearing Friday that the couple saw their son as a paycheque.
Court previously heard a text exchange between the parents that discussed how Gabriel needed to heal "cause we still need him as a paycheque."
"This was not a case of a spontaneous lashing out causing the death of Gabriel. This was not a case of parents who believed in alternative medicine and who loved and cared for the child," Faulkner told the hearing.
"They witnessed the pain he was in. They cared only for themselves."
Faulkner said the parents made the boy suffer.
"The harm and the pain of extreme burns to 33 per cent of his body for, at the very least, a week – how long he suffered is unknown, as selfishly both accused told conflicting stories to police."
The boy was taken by Child and Family Services as a newborn, after his mother tested positive for cocaine, alcohol and marijuana, and he was placed in the care of a great-uncle. He was returned to his parents months before he died.
Lawyers for Pasqua and Sinclair said the parents should be sentenced to between three and five years.
Rebecca Snukal told court Sinclair has already served the equivalent of 40 months in custody and had a difficult time growing up in an Indigenous household with drugs and alcohol.
She said Sinclair is remorseful and the death of his son will be with him forever. "Any amount of jail you impose will pale in comparison."
Pasqua's lawyer, James McLeod, said it has been a tragic case for everyone.
"They caused the death of their son. Their decision-making and their lack thereof caused the death of young Gabriel," McLeod said.
"Now the grief, remorse and trauma that has caused them is real."
Court heard seven victim impact statements from family members, who described their grief.
Gabriel's great-uncle Gerry Bakoway said he and his wife are still mourning.
"Alice and I know that Gabriel is now healthy and happy and not in any pain. Also in our mourning, we try to focus on the 17-1/2 months of joy Gabriel brought us," he said.
"Only time and tears take away grief."
Sydney Ikzwnski said Gabriel was always loved, held and played with when he was in the care of her grandparents.
"Your safety was everything to them, and when it was ripped out of their hands they were terrified. Well, now I see why," she said.
"It didn't need to turn out this way. Everything that happened to (Gabriel) should have been prevented by the adults in his life. Now an innocent baby boy is dead, and I can't wrap my mind around how he was neglected.
"It will never bring our boy back."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 16, 2025.
Bill Graveland, The Canadian Press
