Nunavut man found not criminally responsible for attempted murder of young nephew
Justice Susan Cooper found that, at the time, the man was not capable of knowing that what he did was wrong
WARNING: This story contains distressing information on violence against a child.
A Nunavut man has been found not criminally responsible for the attempted murder of his four-year-old nephew.
In a judgment issued in February, Justice Susan Cooper of the Nunavut Court of Justice found that the man — identified as Q.M. in the court documents — was suffering from a mental disorder at the time and was not able to understand that what he was doing was wrong.
In March 2021, Q.M., who lived in the same community as his nephew, picked up the young boy and "lifted him up into the air as high as possible," according to the court documents.
Q.M. then slammed the boy head first into the ground two times, before walking away without saying anything.
He was later arrested.
The boy's mother saw what was happening from inside a nearby home. By the time she got to her son, he was already unconscious and "had a lump the size of a baseball" on his head.
She took him to the nursing station, who said the child's chances of survival were "slim." He had severe head trauma and a brain bleed.
After he was medevac'd to Edmonton, he had extensive surgery, and doctors found half his brain was severely damaged and needed to be removed.
The boy has since been recovering, and he is now living back home with his family.
"Nonetheless, he continues to face a future with limitations and medical interventions," according to the court documents. "It is not possible to say whether he will ever make a full recovery."
Boss, sister had noticed worrisome behaviour
After he was arrested, Q.M. told police that he had received "a signal from God" the night before he hurt his nephew, and was sent on a mission to kill the boy "because he was the son of Satan."
After his arrest, court documents said Q.M. continued to show symptoms of psychosis until he was prescribed anti-psychotics while in custody.
In this case, the Crown and Defence both asked the court to declare Q.M. — who had pleaded guilty — not criminally responsible for his actions that day.
In her judgment, Cooper found that Q.M. was suffering from a mental disorder on the day he tried to kill his nephew.
She said that, in the months before the offence, Q.M.'s boss was so worried about his behaviour that he went to the local RCMP with his concerns. The RCMP passed that information along to the local health centre, who went to see Q.M. but "did not observe any symptoms."
During that same period of time, Q.M.'s sister also said he had started acting strangely. He was isolating himself, making strange comments and not sleeping.
A forensic psychiatrist told the court that Q.M. was "suffering from a psychosis at the time of the offence."
Cooper also found that, while Q.M. had meant to kill his nephew — and told the police as much after his arrest — he could not have known that what he was doing was wrong.
"The evidence is that the accused thought that killing the victim was a good thing and that he was doing not only what God wanted, but what society would have approved of," Cooper wrote in her judgment.
Cooper has ordered Q.M. to be held in custody at a hospital, and for the Nunavut Review Board to assess his recovery.
She said he is likely to be admitted to the Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Services, where he has previously been treated.