With a large framed picture of his little boy propped up behind him, a father tried to describe the magnitude of his loss to a courtroom.
asserted
father → frame → courtroom
Yverson Belotte arrived at the sentencing hearing Friday for the woman who murdered his three-year-old son, Yverson Belotte, Jr. — better known as Quintanni or simply Quinn — wearing buttons bearing his son’s face and a gold chain and clip inscribed with his name, which had been part of the boy’s pacifier.
asserted
which → arrive → pacifier
The soother itself was buried with him.
asserted
soother → bury → him
“I wish I could tell you how proud I am of you and how sorry I am that I couldn’t be there to protect you,” Belotte said, addressing his late son as he read his victim impact statement that had the packed courtroom sobbing.
uncertain
courtroom → wish → statement
“To my beautiful son, Quintanni, in Heaven,” Belotte said, pointing to the ceiling, “I wish I could trade every single day I have in this world just to have one more day with you, one more opportunity to hold you in my arms and tell you how much Dad loves you.
uncertain
Dad → say → you
Shardanae Cousins-Emily, 25, was convicted by a jury earlier this year of second-degree murder for what the Crown described as a “savage beating” on Quinn in a bathroom at the headquarters of the Toronto Children’s Aid Society on Isabella Street on Dec. 2, 2023.
asserted
Crown → convict → Dec.
Cousins-Emily had been babysitting Quinn for his mother and her former foster sister, Shania John, and took him along for a supervised visit with her own son, in a case that has raised questions about the CAS’s handling of the incident.
asserted
that → babysitte → incident
The convicted murderer faces an automatic sentence of life in prison, but Superior Court Justice Kelly Byrne must still determine how long she should serve before becoming eligible to apply for parole, a period between 10 and 25 years.
asserted
she → convict → parole
Crown attorneys Carimé Boehr and Anna Stanford asked for 18 years.
asserted
Boehr → ask → years
The prosecution — led by Rochelle Liberman, who was subsequently appointed to the bench — contended at trial that Cousins-Emily was angry over recently losing custody of her own son and that she took it out on Quinn.
asserted
she → lead → Quinn
There’s also evidence that Cousins-Emily was likely drinking alcohol that day, but the Crown argued she was not so intoxicated as to not know what she was doing.
asserted
she → ’ → what
“This was an absolutely savage beating,” Boehr told the judge Friday.
asserted
Boehr → tell → judge
“I ask Your Honour to imagine his terror, confusion and pain as this was happening.”
asserted
this → ask → terror
Defence lawyers Jacob Stilman and Roger Rowe asked for a 15-year parole ineligibility period, pointing to their client’s difficult upbringing — she was physically and sexually abused and later became a Crown ward — and that she has been diagnosed with depression and post-traumatic stress disorder.
asserted
she → ask → depression
They also argued that her crime cannot be disconnected from the systemic anti-Black racism that she has suffered throughout her life.
asserted
she → argue → life
“This is a brutal, disturbing, gut-wrenching case, and there is no attempt here to minimize the seriousness of it and the profound loss and grief that our client’s actions have caused,” Stilman said.
asserted
Stilman → wrench → that
In a barely audible voice, Cousins-Emily apologized to Quinn’s parents.
asserted
Emily → apologize → parents
“I’m sorry that I’m the reason their son …” as her voice trailed off.
asserted
voice → ’m → ?
Things got off to a rocky start Friday when Byrne came into the courtroom and saw that officers had left Cousins-Emily sitting at a table behind her lawyers — where she was permitted to sit during her trial when she was presumed innocent — rather than in the prisoner’s box.
asserted
she → get → box
“Why is she not in the box?” Byrne demanded.
asserted
Byrne → demand → box
She ordered that Cousins-Emily be moved over the objections of her lawyers.
asserted
Emily → order → lawyers
“It is unnecessarily dehumanizing,” Stilman said.
asserted
Stilman → say → ?
John, Quinn’s mother, spoke in her victim impact statement of the difficulty in comprehending that someone she loved and trusted could do the unimaginable.
uncertain
she → speak → unimaginable
And of how strangers accuse her of being responsible for her son’s murder because she left him with Cousins-Emily.
asserted
she → accuse → Emily
“I trusted Shardanae more than I trust most people; I believed there was love between us.
asserted
I → trust → us
I believed she understood pain, suffering and loss and what it meant to come from difficult circumstances and still try to become something better,” John said.
asserted
John → believe → circumstances
“That is why she took me completely off guard.
asserted
she → take → guard
I never imagined the person I trusted so deeply would be connected to the greatest loss of my life.”
asserted
I → imagine → life
Cousins-Emily showed no emotion as the victim impact statements were read.
asserted
statements → show → emotion
John talked about how her son would wipe away her tears with his little hands when she was sad; John’s mother, who lives overseas, lamented in a statement read by John that she never got to see her grandson in person, and was denied a visa to travel to attend his funeral.
asserted
she → talk → funeral
The trial heard graphic evidence of the little boy’s numerous injuries: bleeding in his brain and chest, a bruise across his forehead, his two front teeth knocked out, as well as numerous cuts, scrapes and bruises to his collarbone, ears, arms and hands — some of which were consistent with defensive wounds.
asserted
some → hear → wounds
The CAS has declined to speak about the case as it is being sued by Belotte.
asserted
it → decline → Belotte
The trial heard that when Cousins-Emily emerged from the bathroom with the badly beaten Quinn in a stroller, a security guard noticed an injury on his head, but did not call 911 or stop Cousins-Emily from leaving.
asserted
guard → hear → Emily
Quinn died a day later of blunt force trauma to his head.
asserted
Quinn → die → head
The guard entered the bathroom and took photos of blood splattered all over a stall, but a cleaner then wiped up the blood before police arrived.
asserted
police → enter → blood
Belotte asked the judge Friday to consider the fact that his son’s face was “completely unrecognizable” when he saw his body at the morgue.
asserted
he → ask → morgue
Quinn should be six years old now and starting school, his father said, adding that if he had been in the courtroom, he’d be offering to feed the judge some chicken.
asserted
he → start → chicken
Belotte said he looked forward to his son getting into a prestigious university and becoming a scientist.
asserted
son → say → university
“I promise my son that I will continue to build something beautiful in his name,” Belotte said.
asserted
Belotte → promise → name
“He was more than what happened to him.
asserted
what → happen → him
…and 1 more, not listed.
The Aporia
