The couple, clad in long-sleeved green shirts, sat at opposite ends of the prisoner\u2019s box, their expressions largely hidden behind blue medical masks as the judge handed down the mandatory sentence for first-degree murder with no chance of parole for 25 years.<\/p>\n
![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/07\/SFNEEC332BHW3G2JXXHBFOOGO4.jpg\")
Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney sit at opposite ends of the prisoner’s box during their sentencing. (Alex Newbould) <\/p>\n
The boys\u2019 mother told the Milton, Ont., court that her son\u2019s death has been \u201cthe darkest night\u201d of her soul and the family\u2019s lives will forever be divided before and after his murder.<\/p>\n
Hamber and Cooney took in the two boys, who cannot be identified under a publication ban, in the fall of 2017 and sought to adopt them.<\/p>\n
Five years later, the older boy \u2014 by then so thin that first responders questioned his age \u2014 died in the basement of their home. His brother was taken away by child welfare services and later testified at the women\u2019s trial, describing years of abuse both siblings endured at the couple\u2019s hands.<\/p>\n
The boy testified at the couple\u2019s trial that he was locked in his room for long stretches of time and denied food at times for days, court documents show. He told the court he was forced to wear a wetsuit that was fastened to his feet with zip ties, leaving him with deep cuts on his feet.<\/p>\n
In his written ruling, Ontario Superior Court Justice Clayton Conlan said Hamber and Cooney hated and resented the children for \u201chaving come into their lives and not having turned out to be what was expected.\u201d<\/p>\n
The boys\u2019 mother, who also cannot be identified, said the loss of her resilient, intelligent son who adored reading and food \u201cfollows me into every moment of my life.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is an empty place in our family that can never be filled,\u201d she told the court on Friday. \u201cEvery birthday, holiday, family gathering and ordinary day serves as a reminder that (my son) should be with us.\u201d<\/p>\n
The murdered boy\u2019s brother is now traumatized and confused \u201cat an age when children should feel safe and protected,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
He also delivered a victim impact statement, telling the court that he has endured anxious, sleepless nights, and watching recordings of the torture inflicted on the boys during the couple\u2019s trial made him \u201cvery sad and angry.\u201d<\/p>\n
Never again will he play baseball with his brother, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI won\u2019t be able to see him, and I won\u2019t be able to talk to him again,\u201d he said. \u201cLiving with Becky and Brandy, I did not like it, and it should have never happened.\u201d<\/p>\n
In a statement read out by the Crown, the boys\u2019 grandmother said she and their former foster mom had grown increasingly worried the boys would be killed and warned the Children\u2019s Aid Society to no avail.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo matter how many times I tried to tell that to the CAS workers, my grandson stayed with those monsters,\u201d she said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was agonizing, seeing his tiny body in this child-sized coffin. It was unrecognizable, and no way did it look like the 12-year-old he was,\u201d the boys\u2019 grandmother added.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey had to pad his little body with newspaper because he was just skin and bones.\u201d<\/p>\n
One by one, members of the boys\u2019 school, Indigenous and neighbourhood communities addressed court, often choking back tears as they described the kind, energetic young boys who became increasingly isolated and withdrawn.<\/p>\n
Court heard that first responders, teachers and Indigenous community workers are traumatized by the boy\u2019s murder and some have gone on medical leave or left their professions entirely.<\/p>\n
The women\u2019s lawyers had argued at trial that their clients had no intention of hurting the children, who they said had significant behavioural issues.<\/p>\n
The women defended their behaviour when it was their turn to speak on Friday, claiming they were good foster moms who were wrongfully convicted.<\/p>\n
But the judge said their \u201cmoral blameworthiness\u201d is \u201cas high as could possibly be imagined,\u201d as their lengthy abuse of the children extinguished a young life.<\/p>\n
Florence Hiltz, an Indigenous elder in Ottawa where the boys once lived, said the \u201cbrutal and horrific\u201d end to the boy\u2019s short life has left the community terrified.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe fear for every child and youth that is brought out of our communities where we must trust in a system that is supposed to be designed to protect children,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n
Hiltz said a\u00a0computer game that she loved playing with the boy is still sitting at a level they couldn\u2019t beat together, forever untouched.<\/p>\n
Hiltz still sees the boy in the world around her, in the light cascading through a stained-glass window at his funeral \u2014 lighting up his casket and service \u2014 and in the eagles outside the courtroom the morning of the sentencing hearing.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s with that light and that love and that energy that we continue to make crucial changes to our system for our most vulnerable,\u201d Hiltz said. \u201cWe must do better.\u201d<\/p>\n
Before Hamber and Cooney were led away in handcuffs, the judge said that although the case is over, the murdered boy will never be forgotten — and his brother\u2019s life is just beginning.<\/p>\n
The boy\u2019s mother said she hopes her son is remembered not for how he died but for how he lived: \u201cHe was a warrior.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was the greatest honour of my life to grow you and bring your shining light to this world,\u201d she added, her voice catching.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAll I gave you was a name, and you gave me the world.\u201d<\/p>\n
This report by Elissa Mendes of The Canadian Press was first published July 3, 2026.<\/p>\n
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