Former foster parent says 6-year-old's death in Shamattawa First Nation was preventable, calls for inquiry

The former foster parent of a six-year-old boy who went missing and was later found dead in a northeastern Manitoba community is calling for an inquiry into his death. 

Johnson Redhead was reported missing to RCMP in Shamattawa First Nation shortly after noon last Wednesday. Following a large-scale search, his body was found Sunday night in a marshy area about three and a half kilometres from the school where he was last seen.

Brittany Bannerman fostered Johnson Redhead in 2020, until a kinship placement was arranged two years ago that allowed his close relatives to take care of him.

Bannerman, who chairs the diversity committee of the Manitoba Foster Parent Association, wants an inquiry, which she said would address ongoing systemic gaps in Manitoba's child and family services, the education system, family support programs and health-care services. 

"The Redhead family is facing devastation. I cannot express the heartbreak that is going through all of his parents, his aunties, his uncles, his siblings and honestly his entire community," she told CBC on Tuesday.

Bannerman says she received permission from Johnson's family to advocate for an inquiry.

The six-year-old had autism and was nonverbal. His death was preventable, and raises concerns about the lack of co-ordinated care and safety protocols to help children with complex needs in northern Manitoba, said Bannerman.

RCMP previously said Johnson was last seen around 9 a.m. on Sept. 18, when he attended a breakfast program at school in Shamattawa First Nation, about 750 kilometres northeast of Winnipeg. He didn't show up to class after that, and was reported missing around 12:30 p.m.

Searchers in the community immediately began combing wooded areas, trails, roads and sheds and checking construction equipment, Mounties said. 

Members of Manto Sipi Cree Nation, Garden Hill First Nation, Pimicikamak Cree Nation, Tataskweyak Cree Nation and Mathias Colomb Cree Nation helped in the search, which also included personnel from the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group, Winnipeg Volunteer Search and Rescue, RCMP search and rescue, and the Office of the Fire Commissioner.

A police dog, two drones and a helicopter were also used in the search.

Bannerman said Johnson's family loved him deeply but struggled to find respite care. 

She wants details from the school about how he ended up going missing, and wants the child welfare system held accountable to prevent similar tragedies in the future.

"Had he had proper one-on-one supports supervising him at the school breakfast program to ensure that he made it … to class, and proper one-on-one supports in a classroom, Johnson would have never went missing," Bannerman said.