An Edmonton judge has found Joey Crier guilty of manslaughter in connection to the death of his 19-month-old son Anthony Raine.
Anthony Joseph Raine, who was 19-months old, was found dead outside the city’s Good Shepherd Anglican Church in 2017.
“It was murder, in my opinion,” Luci Johnson, a court advocate who sat through the trial with the boy’s family, said outside court while standing next to Raine.
“They were high on drugs. What they did to that little guy … it’s not right.”
Crier and his then-girlfriend Tasha-Lee Doreen Mack were each charged with second-degree murder in the death.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice David Labrenz found Crier guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter because he said the Crown wasn’t able to prove who committed the fatal assault.
The court heard Crier won’t be sentenced until after a charter challenge over the time the man spent in custody and a Gladue report is completed. The pre-sentence report can be requested when an offender is of Indigenous background.
“What’s the purpose of justice if you can’t get justice?” Johnson said. “How many weeks and months and years are going to go by before there is accountability for Anthony?
