Police have charged a Lethbridge woman in connection to the death of her 13-year-old son, whose body was found along Mayor Magrath Drive on Boxing Day.
According to Lethbridge Police Service officials, during their investigation officers determined the teen and his mom were using drugs together on Christmas day when he overdosed. Police say a man who knew the pair “provided life-saving measures and a hang-up call to 911 was made”, but when first responders got to the southside home the woman allegedly lied about his whereabouts and is said to have hid him.
Officers were able to gather evidence from after the pair left the house and walked to a nearby business that is alleged to show the teen in medical distress and police say paramedics were never contacted. Officials say video surveillance shows the pair spending the night on the street. The 13-year-old is said to have never moved from the ground before his body was found on December 26th.
Staff Sergeant in charge of the Criminal Investigation Section Pete Christos says at the time police were looking for the teen as he had been reported missing from the youth centre he was staying at and police were looking for him to take him back.
“When he left, we believe he wasn’t with his mother but hooked up with her afterwards. Our position is that his mother is the one who called us and let us know that she found her son,” Christos says.
Christos adds it is rare for officers to see a youth overdosing and extremely rare to have these sorts of cases where there is a familial connection. He says this is the first file of this nature that police have come across.
He says at this time police have ideas of what drugs the two were using but cannot say until the toxicology results come back.
“We’re still working through those things and waiting for the medical examiner to get back to us. Until that time, we’re just waiting for some responses.”
Blanche Isobel Irene Fick is facing charges of criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide the necessaries of life. She has been remanded in custody and is scheduled to appear in court on February 7th.
