Charge stayed against mom whose baby was found dead

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This article was published 30/10/2022 (787 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Justice officials have stayed charges against a Winnipeg woman who was arrested after her infant daughter was found dead in a garbage bin last May.

Jeanene Rosa Moar, 32, was arrested last June and charged with manslaughter and concealing the body of a child.

Court records show the charges were stayed Oct. 5, one week after she was granted release on bail.

Prosecutor Monica Turner told provincial court Judge Michael Clark that after reviewing the results of an autopsy, the Crown was not satisfied there was a reasonable likelihood of conviction.

“The Crown had recent communications with the forensic pathologist who performed the autopsy,” Turner said. “Following that discussion, we arrived at the conclusion that we would not be able to determine the cause of death — whether by unlawful act, otherwise unavoidable circumstances or natural causes.

“As a result, we are no longer satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt that there is a likelihood of convicting Ms. Moar for any offences arising from these unfortunate circumstances,” she said.

Turner did not indicate how the autopsy results affected the charge of concealing the child’s body.

“Presumably there is not any evidence to substantiate that charge, either,” said University of Manitoba associate law professor David Ireland.

In prosecuting an accused, Ireland said, the Crown has two considerations: is there a reasonable likelihood of conviction and is it in the public interest?

“Maybe there is evidence, but they don’t believe it is in the public interest to prosecute (Moar),” Ireland said.

Moar has a criminal record that includes convictions for theft and not complying with court orders.

In 2018, she was sentenced to one month in jail and was prohibited from driving for one year after admitting to stealing a car that had been left running. At the time of her arrest, Moar was sitting in the car and was drinking alcohol she had just stolen from a Liquor Mart. She was intoxicated, court records show.

Her sentencing hearing was told Moar had been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, was homeless and had struggled with addictions to alcohol and methamphetamine.

City police said last May they believed the infant, identified as “Baby Moar”, was alive when she was put in the garbage in the lane between Boyd and Redwood avenues, west of Powers Street. Police had received a tip on May 3, the same day trash was picked up in the neighbourhood, and found the infant’s body.

Police said the infant had been born at a home in Garden City. Moar was arrested at a home close to where the baby was found.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca