2 charged in death of year old baby: Winnipeg police

WARNING: The following story contains elements that some people might find disturbing.

Winnipeg police say two people have been charged in connection to the death of one-year-old Hanna Boulette.

“It’s heartbreaking when we see these instances. We do not need to see infants dying at the hands of irresponsibility,” said Constable Claude Chancy, Public Information Officer with the Winnipeg Police Service.

WPS says on March 23, 2023, a man called 911 after his child became unresponsive at his home.

Paramedics arrived at the scene and began CPR before taking the infant to a hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

Police were notified of the death and began an investigation.

“They knew the child was in distress at the time and could have called 911 prior to when they did,” said Chancey.

An autopsy was conducted and toxicology reports determined that Hanna’s death resulted from high levels of fentanyl intoxication.

According to University of Waterloo professor Michael Beazely, fentanyl is not easily absorbed and therefore interaction with it via contact such as the skin, will most likely not result in an overdose.

“Most of the time, you can get absorption through ingestion, exposure to basically mucus members, that would be eyes, in the nasal cavity, or in the mouth,” said Beazely.

Through the investigation, police say they determined that both parents were not forthcoming with details of the incident, were present, and had been aware of Boulette’s fentanyl exposure before later calling emergency.

Police say 38-year-old Garry Daniel Adrian Bruce and 37-year-old Sabrina Faye Boulette have been charged with manslaughter in connection to the death. In addition, police say over the course of the investigation, Bruce was charged with possession of a controlled substance.

Police say both parents are known to police.

According to court records, Bruce faced several charges over the last few years, including one dating back to March 3, 2010, where he faced a possession for the purpose of trafficking charge.

In his previous cases prior to the manslaughter charge, Bruce either served a conditional sentence or was ordered to pay a fine.

Court records also show the female parent, Boulette, charged with credit card fraud in 2017. She spent six days in custody and received probation for a year.

Police say the parents remain in custody in relation to this incident.

“Very recently, I believe in the beginning of January we actually had a child ingest fentanyl. In that case it was in a household and that child was a two-year-old male. Same thing, ingestion of fentanyl that was readily accessible,” said Chancey.

-With files from Edward Djan