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WARNING: This story contains details about violence involving children.<\/p>\n
The joint trial of an Ottawa man and woman accused of killing a seven-week-old boy continued this week\u00a0with the infant’s biological father testifying that he’d expressed his concerns about the mother to authorities months before his son’s death in October 2021. <\/p>\n
Boravy Buth, the infant’s mother, and Patrick O’Connor, her partner at the time, are each charged with second-degree murder. Buth is also charged with criminal negligence causing death. <\/p>\n
The witness, who CBC is not naming to protect the identity of other minors, was in a relationship with Buth for about six years until January 2021.\u00a0Buth had two older children from a previous relationship, and she and the witness had two more of their own.<\/p>\n
The man told court that when those children were infants, he became concerned about Buth’s habit of co-sleeping with them, fearing they’d fall off the bed. He said she sometimes coped poorly when the infants woke and handled them in a “rough” manner.<\/p>\n
Father expressed concerns to CAS<\/p>\n
Throughout their relationship, the witness said Buth had fits of “uncontrollable rage,” and described returning home from work to find their home in a “chaotic state.” He began to doubt Buth’s ability to care for the children and the household, the man testified.<\/p>\n
The couple broke up after Buth was charged with assaulting the witness in January 2021, and he began caring for all four children. The Children’s Aid Society became involved, and that’s when the man says he began expressing his concerns that Buth “wasn’t fit to parent.”<\/p>\n
Buth’s assault charge was withdrawn and she entered into a peace bond, agreeing not to communicate directly with the witness. He said he learned through legal counsel that Buth was by then pregnant with their third child.<\/p>\n
By the time that child was born, Buth was living with O’Connor, her co-accused. The infant died on Oct. 26, 2021, at just seven weeks old.<\/p>\n
Charges upgraded<\/p>\n