Toddler injured in attack, dies after being taken off life support

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This article was published 01/11/2019 (1880 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg family is grieving the loss of a three-year-old boy who suffered fatal injuries in a domestic-violence-related attack.

After spending three days in hospital receiving blood transfusions and being placed on life support, Hunter Haze Straight-Smith died Saturday afternoon surrounded by his parents and relatives. He was taken off life support and died around 4:10 p.m.

The three-year-old suffered severe brain damage Oct. 30 after he was stabbed repeatedly in the Pritchard Avenue rooming house where he was staying with family. His mother’s former boyfriend, 33-year-old Daniel Jensen, has been charged with attempted murder. He’s accused of arguing with Hunter’s mother, Clarice Smith, assaulting her at an address on Main Street, and then showing up at the rooming house and stabbing Hunter, likely while the toddler was trying to sleep. 

The charges against Jensen will likely be upgraded in light of the boy’s death. Hunter is Winnipeg’s 39th homicide victim this year. 

Darryl Contois, a spokesman for the family, spoke to the Free Press from the children’s hospital as Hunter’s family could be heard sobbing. 

“They’re devastated… broken-hearted,” he said. “They lost their baby.”

The family’s grief has been public since news broke of the vicious attack — the brutality of which police described as “inconceivable” — and roughly 80 people gathered outside the children’s hospital at HSC Friday to show their support for his mother, Clarice Smith and Hunter’s father, Doyle Straight Jr. The distraught parents left their son’s bedside during the vigil to accept condolences from supporters, who set up a memorial for Hunter outside the hospital’s main entrance. 

Contois thanked community organizations and individuals who offered their support to the family and brought food and donations while Hunter was hospitalized. 

“And even the (hospital) staff and the police, their time and generosity — it’s very appreciated,” Contois said. 

As for how the community can try to heal, Contois said government leaders must take action to stop domestic violence. 

“For domestic violence, there should be more workshops for men to go into for the issues that they deal with, and I’m hoping the government will step in,” he said. 

Jensen was previously convicted of assaulting Smith, and he was under a court order not to have contact with her. 

Winnipeg Police Service spokesman Const. Rob Carver spoke to the Free Press before Hunter died, saying upgraded charges were likely. 

“If the victim of any situation does not survive those injuries, and that death is directly related to those injuries, then investigators will move very quickly to upgrade those charges to homicide-related charges,” Carver said. 

When the police first released details of the case this week following Jensen’s arrest, WPS Const. Jay Murray said first responders found the toddler suffering from catastrophic injuries. 

“I think it’s inconceivable that someone would target an innocent child, probably one trying to sleep at that time of night… I think a lot of people are having a hard time grasping that someone would be capable of doing something like this,” Murray said earlier this week. 

— with files from Kevin Rollason 

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca