Inquest begins into seven-month-old girl’s death

An inquest into the death of a First Nation’s infant from Watson Lake, Yukon, began Monday in Whitehorse.

Seven-month-old Kaiya Sandra Faith Stone-Kirk’s death was reported to the Yukon Coroner’s Service by the Watson Lake Community Hospital on Aug. 1, 2021.

The young girl, who was a member of the Liard First Nation (LFN), died after she was put to sleep on an adult-sized bed while under the care of babysitter Cheryl Wolftail.

Under the Coroner’s Act, an inquest may be called by the chief coroner when the public has an interest in being informed of the circumstances surrounding a death.

Presiding coroner Mara Pollock and a jury first heard from the young girl’s grandmother, Margaret Sue Stone.

Stone testified that her granddaughters’ parents were unable to look after the infant and her 17-month-old brother, resulting in a formal agreement with Family and Children’s Services to care for the children.

Stone recalled how a week before the young girl’s death, all three family members contracted COVID-19.

As Stone required hospitalization for her symptoms, Family and Children’s Services scrambled to find alternative arrangements for the children. A social worker helping Stone asked Wolftail to care for the children as she had previously babysat for Stone a few months prior.

Stone broke down in tears as she recalled how she received a phone call two days later after she had been discharged from the hospital and was getting ready to retrieve her grandchildren that one of them had died.

“The pain of losing a grandchild is not something you can even imagine,” she said. “My heart feels like it’s broken into so many pieces.”

Stone said her daughter, Stone-Kirk’s mother, has been unable to process the infant’s death, causing her to overdose several times.

She expressed anger at the department, stating social workers should have taken her young grandchildren to the hospital instead of a babysitter.

She also testified she was unaware that Wolftail had previously been involved with Family and Children’s Services years prior.

“I’m hoping this story of mistakes will come out,” Stone said.

‘I wanted to help’

Wolftail, who is also a member of LFN, said in her testimony that she and her family had likewise contracted COVID-19 and were isolating at the time.

Despite being sick herself and initially declining to watch the children, Wolftail later agreed, though she said she was “exhausted and overwhelmed” taking care of herself and five children who had COVID-19.

Despite calls from Family and Children’s Services checking in on her and offering to place the children somewhere else if she was having trouble, Wolftail decided to continue to care for the children until their grandmother was out of the hospital.

“I wanted to help, no one else would,” she said.

She said social workers also failed to provide a baby gate to prevent Stone-Kirk’s brother from accessing a set of stairs within the home.

Wolftail recalled that despite the social worker instructing her to put Stone-Kirk in a bassinet, she placed the infant on a bed during the second night of their stay as she was too big for the bassinet and was “moving around.”

Wolftail said she intended to place Stone-Kirk back in her bassinet before going to bed but fell asleep before she could do so.

She tearfully recalled waking the next morning to find Stone-Kirk’s body wedged between the bed and the wall and that she wasn’t breathing.

Wolftail said she “freaked out” upon the seeing infant and called 911.

“I said ‘What did I do?’” she said through tears.

Monday’s proceedings also heard testimonies from Wolftail’s daughter and a recording from another child who was staying in the home at the time.

The inquest will continue this week and will hear from several parties, including hospital staff, LFN, Family and Children’s Services and safe sleep experts.

At the conclusion of the inquest, the jury will have the opportunity to make recommendations aimed at preventing deaths under similar circumstances.