By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles

Trial to Proceed Against Couple Charged in the Death of Their Child

Feb 12, 2016 | 3:29 PM

LETHBRIDGE: The defence application for a stay of proceedings in the case against David and Collet Stephan, has been rejected by the court and the trial will be going ahead as planned.

In March of 2012, paramedics were called when a 19-month old boy stopped breathing. He was sent to the Calgary Children’s Hospital where he died five days later.

Following an investigation, the Glenwood couple was charged almost a year later in 2013 with Failing to Provide the Necessities of Life. A press release from Raymond RCMP stated that officers believe the child had become ill in February of 2012.

With the trial date just over two weeks away, the Stephan’s lawyer, Sean Buckley, argued that their right to a trial within a reasonable time had been violated.

In the decision handed down by Justice Rodney Jerke, he noted that several of the delays in the process had been caused by the defence. He stated that while the process has been long, and has likely taken a toll on the couple, that does not outweigh the public interest in having the matter go to trial.

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After hearing the decision, David Stephan spoke to the media outside the courthouse, expressing his disappointment with the outcome. He explained that they had just been starting to heal when they were charged in 2013, and that they will now have to wait until after the trial, “When the charges came nearly a year later, that was robbed from us, and we’ve never been able to get back to that point again, because now the main focus when we think of Ezekiel is court, reliving that tragic week that led up to his passing.”

The four week trial begins February 29.