Dead boy’s brother accused of lying about foster moms for $4M lawsuit

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This tortuous cross-examination is just another cruel chapter in the endlessly difficult childhood of this poor, 13-year-old boy.

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Apprehended as a baby from his birth mother, shunted through foster parents, he and his older brother landed in 2017 at the Burlington home of Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney.

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It was a home described as a house of horrors.

Five years later, his brother was dead, allegedly at the hands of his foster moms now on trial by judge alone in Milton for first-degree murder and failure to provide the necessities of life. And he is here to testify against them.

The married couple has pleaded not guilty to the 12-year-old’s death.

The emaciated victim, the size of a child half his age, was suffering from hypothermia when first responders found him unresponsive in the basement, soaking wet and wearing a wetsuit on Dec. 21, 2022.

Cause of death undetermined

The pathologist couldn’t determine the cause of death.

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Hamber and Cooney were in the process of adopting the brothers at the time; the names of the Indigenous boys with special needs are covered by a publication ban.

The surviving brother told police he was often locked in his room, forced to wear a wetsuit at home and tied up when he got angry. At night, he said he was ziptied inside a tent on his bed.

He told the judge-alone trial that by 2022, he was hardly allowed outside, spent “92% of the time” in his room where he had to eat his meals and had to finish according to a 15-minute timer set by the moms. He said he was also forced to do repeated exercises as punishment, such as going up and down the stairs while wearing a hockey helmet.

He and his brother were never allowed back to school after the pandemic and were instead homeschooled, court heard.

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With a support dog beside him as he testified from a room away from the women accused of starving his brother to death, the boy often grew frustrated and once broke down in tears as he withstood gruelling cross examination.

Yet he remained remarkably strong, polite and steadfast – even after being accused of concocting lies about his life with Hamber and Cooney for financial gain.

Hamber’s lawyer Monte MacGregor tried to be gentle but over an entire arduous day of cross examination, he challenged the child on everything he’s said.

He showed him photos of elaborate meals and snacks – posted on Instagram with the hashtag #traumamomsforthewin – and videos of the brothers preparing for Halloween and dancing at a farm.

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The boy insisted he didn’t remember those fancy meals and the smiles were all fake.

“For a long period of time for every meal we were eating blended food,” he testified. “This was maybe from a long time ago.”

MacGregor suggested he was forced to wear a wetsuit because he would wet himself on a regular basis.

“No, not at all,” the boy said.

The lawyer accused him of lashing out at his foster moms and throwing violent tantrums because he didn’t get his way.

“Not at all,” the boy shot back. “When you stare at a wall for most of the day, you start getting mad about it or you’re doing exercises all day long and you’re getting mad about it.”

Injuries on his feet were caused by him scratching himself, the lawyer suggested. The boy scoffed and asked how he could make identical marks by scratching. He’s testified the cuts were caused by the moms zip-tieing his shoes to his feet.

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The lawyer told him his blankets were taken away because he was often suicidal and they were worried he was going to choke himself. “Not at all. How do you choke yourself with a blanket? I don’t understand,” he replied.

Denied he was there for money and not his dead brother

The lawyer then zeroed in on his happy reunion with his mother and his family’s decision to sue Hamber and Cooney for $4 million.

“What I’m suggesting to you is that you basically would be willing to do anything for your mom, as you said, and helping secure $4 million by testifying based on what she’s told you, you’d be willing to do that to help her, right?

The boy vehemently denied the insulting suggestion that he was there for money – and not his dead brother.

“Please don’t just remember me, but remember (my brother) and everything that he could do to live as long as he could,” the surviving child had written his therapist in a letter shown earlier in court.

“He meant everything to me. And Becky and Brandy didn’t do anything to help him.”

mmandel@postmedia.com

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