![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774726337_533_default.jpg\")
<\/p>\nA 12-year-old boy, found unconscious and emaciated in a puddle before dying in hospital. Brothers, forced to sleep in a mesh tent, zip-tied to their clothes. Audio recordings and text messages from would-be adoptive parents, calling the kids “f\u2013kface,” “loser” and “dumb brat.”<\/p>\n
Chilling details have come to light in the trial of Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney. The Burlington, Ont., couple have been charged with abusing two Indigenous brothers they were in the process of adopting and murdering the older boy, known only as L.L., who died on Dec. 21, 2022. They have pleaded not guilty to all charges.<\/p>\n
Closing submissions wrapped up on Friday in the judge-only trial that has been ongoing since September. As the couple await their verdict, child welfare advocates say the case has made evident shortcomings in the youth protection system in Ontario.<\/p>\n
They say it also highlights systemic failures seen across Canada.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cSometimes when we see the headlines, we focus on the offenders\u2019 behaviour as being so reprehensible,\u201d said Cindy Blackstock, an Ottawa-based First Nations child advocate.<\/p>\n
\u201cBut what we need to do is knit together these cases to see the patterns.\u201d<\/p>\n
WATCH | Questions raised about child welfare system:<\/p>\n
Closing arguments start in case of Ontario boy allegedly killed by couple trying to adopt him<\/p>\n
Closing arguments are underway in the case of two would-be adoptive parents facing first-degree murder and other charges. The case in Milton, Ont., has raised questions about why the boy and his brother remained in their care despite numerous red flags raised by professionals. The case has advocates calling for urgent changes to the child welfare system.No national registry<\/p>\n
The two boys were wards of the Children’s Aid Society (CAS) in Ottawa, but supervised by the Halton CAS after they were moved to Burlington in 2017.\u00a0<\/p>\n
In the five years they lived with Hamber and Cooney, there were at least a half-dozen reports<\/a> to the CAS about suspected abuse. Despite that, CAS workers never spoke to the kids alone, nor did they conduct an in-person surprise visit, the court has heard.<\/p>\n There have been several<\/a> high<\/a>–profile<\/a> cases<\/a> across Canada of children dying while being followed by the youth protection system, meaning a child welfare system has received reports about the child\u2019s safety in the past, or has previously interacted with the child and the family.<\/p>\n But we don\u2019t have an official count of them across Canada \u2014 and each jurisdiction has a different way of monitoring these deaths.\u00a0<\/p>\n CBC News reached out to every province and territory to ask if and how they track those numbers. Every province that responded said it does \u2014 but some, like Ontario, Quebec, P.E.I. and Nunavut, would not share the number of deaths in 2025. P.E.I. and Nunavut said releasing the information could mean identifying people, due to their small number of child and youth deaths. Quebec\u2019s coroner\u2019s office said it doesn’t yet have a comprehensive picture of last year’s figures. Ontario didn’t answer questions about why it wasn’t publicizing its 2025 data.\u00a0<\/p>\n The Northwest Territories and Yukon did not respond to CBC’s inquiries by deadline.<\/p>\n This latest case makes clear that this patchwork tracking is not enough, said Cheyanne Ratnam, who grew up in the child welfare system and now works as a child rights advocate.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cWe need some sort of registry to show these things, because numerically, it provides more evidence of why the system needs transformation,\u201d said Ratnam.\u00a0<\/p>\n A national registry would help identify patterns to figure out why these deaths happen, she said \u2014 and what should be done about them.\u00a0<\/p>\n \u201cOne death is too many, if this is a system that\u2019s supposed to take care and provide safety for every person they take away from their family or their community of origin.\u201d<\/p>\n What guardrails failed?<\/p>\n Transparency is also crucial, advocates say.<\/p>\n Both the Ottawa and Halton CAS have said they have completed reviews for the Hamber\/Cooney case and made changes, without specifying what they were. When asked to clarify, both offices declined to comment, saying the matter is currently before the courts.\u00a0<\/p>\n That makes it impossible for the public to know what guardrails failed and which led to L.L.’s death, says Irwin Elman, who served as Ontario\u2019s independent watchdog for the child welfare system from 2008 until the role was abolished in 2019 as part of budget cuts.\u00a0<\/p>\n That includes details like how many times the CAS visited the boys, or whether they took what the children said seriously.<\/p>\n \u201cAn investigation would show this,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n Elman points out that in Ontario, a mandatory coroner\u2019s inquest is triggered when an inmate dies in prison, but not when a child dies in foster care.<\/p>\n He wants that to change and for the results of ensuing investigations made public.<\/p>\n \u2018The solutions are already there\u2019<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774726338_577_default.jpg\")
Cheyanne Ratnam, who grew up in the child welfare system, is calling for a national registry of kids who die after being followed by child welfare services. Currently, provinces and territories have different ways they track this information. Some jurisdictions make the data public, others do not. (CBC)<\/p>\n![\"two](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774726338_677_default.jpg\")
Burlington, Ont., couple Brandy Cooney, left, and Becky Hamber, second from right, seen in 2022, face murder and other charges involving J.L., second from left, and his older brother, L.L., whose faces are blurred to protect their identities. (Ontario Superior Court in Milton)<\/p>\n
![\"A](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/1774726339_176_default.jpg\")
First Nations child advocate Cindy Blackstock says child welfare advocates have been calling for solutions, like monitoring neglect investigations and doing more to keep Indigenous families together when it is safe to do so for decades \u2014 without those recommendations being implemented. (Adrian Wyld\/The Canadian Press)<\/p>\n