An Aboriginal toddler may have been left unattended in a bathtub for close to an hour on the day he died in foster care two years ago, court heard yesterday.
Eunice Wudrich is charged with criminal negligence causing the death of two-year-old Evander Lee Daniels who was in her care on June 8, 2010.
In an RCMP interview a week after Daniels’ death, Wudrich told police she may have left the toddler unattended in the bathtub sometime around 4 p.m. after her husband arrived home from work.
In the same interview, Wudrich later said she didn’t think she had left Daniels, who was a member of the Sturgeon Lake First Nation, alone for more than five minutes but admitted momentarily forgetting about him while attending to another child.
A 911 call was made from the Wudrich home at about 5:05 p.m.
Dr. Shaun Ladham, a forensic pathologist, also testified that although as much as 65 per cent of his body was covered with scalding burns from hot water, Daniels most likely died as a result of drowning.
The trial, which has been taking place this week at Court of Queen’s Bench in Saskatoon, is adjourned until Thursday morning when final submissions from the Crown and defense will be heard.