A Brief, Unloved Life

"Pasqua and Sinclair admit that the  harm suffered by Gabriel, both the burns and blunt force trauma were significant."

"The burns would have been readily apparent and visible to both accused as Gabriel continued for days to suffer without treatment."

Crown prosecutor Carolina Valenzuela, Calgary court

"First responders arrived and found Gabriel in the master bedroom and desribed him as being already visibly deceased."

"His extremities were cool, almost cold to the touch. Upon  unzipping his onesie his body was still somewhat warm to the touch. His skin was an ashen grey colour."

"Gabriel's untreated major burn triggered widespread bacterial infection, or sepsis, in his last week of life."

"[Text messages between the parents a week earlier discussed his injuries]."

"We need  him to heal then we can send him off to a facility 'cause we still need him as a paycheque [father Michael Sinclair to mother Sonya Pasqua, 34]."

Court document

Gabriel Sinclair-Pasqua, shown in a photo supplied by the family, died on Oct. 5, 2021.

Gabriel Sinclair-Pasqua, 18 months of age, died in 2021 after suffering major burns to a third of his body; his parents, Sonya Pasqua, 34, and Michael Sinclair, 32, failed to seek medical treatment. They were arrested two years later. They made an effort to treat the toddler's burns with applications of honey. The infected burn and head  trauma caused his death. His parents have pleaded guilty to manslaughter. they will be sentenced at a later date.

 

 Calgary, Alberta Court was introduced to details of the child's final days as Crown prosecutor Carolina Valenzuela read agreed facts, beginning with the statement that Gabriel had been taken by Child and Family Services as a newborn, when his mother tested positive for cocaine, alcohol and cannabis. Child and Family Services turned the baby over to an uncle for his care until the child was returned to his biological parents six months before his death.

 

On October 5, 2021, paramedics were called to the family home. In their report, paramedics described the infant's low body weight and various injuries. The burn, according to a pediatric surgeon, would have required emergency medical care, followed by immediate hospitalization. The parents informed officials of variant versions of the boy's cause of injuries; that he fell and hit his head on a toilet; that he pulled a pot of boiling water from a stove top.

The presiding judge, Justice Glen Poelman, ordered Gladue reports be prepared into the parents' Indigenous backgrounds prior to sentencing arguments on December 20. In other words, their Indigenous status will ensure that whatever sentencing this couple would be given will be treated differently than any other parents of a neglected, abused child, taking into account their disadvantaged ancestry and handling them with kid gloves.

Family of Gabriel Sinclair-Pasqua react after parents Sonya Pasqua and Michael Sinclair pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of their 18-month-old son at the Calgary Courts Centre on Monday, Dec. 9, 2024. Darren Makowichuk/Postmedia