Sask. mother says she begged police to protect her 13-month-old in the hours before he was found dead
CBC
The Prince Albert, Sask., mother of 13-month-old Tanner Brass is speaking out, saying she repeatedly begged police to help in the hours before her baby was found dead.
Kyla Frenchman said she was already panicking when the two police officers arrived.
She was standing outside her Prince Albert apartment building in the February cold. She said she'd just been kicked out of her apartment. Her partner, Kaij Brass, was still inside with their 13-month-old son, Tanner.
Frenchman said the officers told her to wait outside and entered the apartment building. They came out shortly after and said no one answered their knock on the unit door, she said.
"It really broke me," Frenchman said.
Frenchman said she frantically demanded the officers enter the unit to check on Tanner. Instead, Frenchman was arrested, handcuffed and driven to the police station for suspected intoxication, an allegation she denies.
Police returned to the apartment several hours later and found Tanner dead. Brass has been charged with second-degree murder. He is currently in custody, and the case has been adjourned until March 25. He has not yet entered a plea.
"I feel angry toward the police for not helping me. I basically pleaded to them that my baby was in danger," Frenchman said. "This isn't right. We deserve justice for what happened."
Frenchman agreed to tell her story in an interview Wednesday afternoon with CBC News. She was joined in a Saskatoon boardroom by supporters, including her sister, a mental health worker, her lawyer and a Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations official. Before the interview began, they prayed with an elder.
The 45-minute session was punctuated by long pauses, crying and breaks for Frenchman to decide if she wanted to continue.
The case has outraged First Nations leaders and others. They say this is a clear example of police racism against Frenchman, who lives in Prince Albert but is a member of the Thunderchild First Nation.
"She called them for help. They incorrectly assumed she was drinking. They put her into cells. Her baby died. She is the victim of discrimination," said her lawyer Eleanore Sunchild, also a Thunderchild member.
They are demanding the immediate firing of police Chief Jonathan Bergen and any officer who knew the baby was in danger.
On March 3, Bergen said he would wait for the results of the investigation from the Saskatchewan Public Complaints Commission before taking any possible action. The five officers under scrutiny all remained on duty.
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