Police: ‘I hate my child’ searched on couple’s device two days before child’s death

A jury in the murder trial of Becky Hember and Brandi Cooney heard Thursday that someone in their home used an iPad to search for “I hate my child” just two days before the death of the 12-year-old son they were caring for.

In the weeks following the child’s death, other searches were recorded on the couple’s devices, including the definition of murder, how to delete footage from a Wyze security camera and how to clean up a crime scene.

Halton Police Sergeant Julie Powers, the officer in charge of the case, testified last week about evidence recovered from the couple’s electronic devices—including photos, videos, audio files and text messages between 2019 and 2022. Many of the messages that were deleted on December 25, 2022, have been recovered, he said.

The court in Milton, Ont., heard recordings of the two women shouting and insulting the deceased child and her brother, and read messages in which they discussed tying up the children with zip ties and calling them extremely derogatory terms.

The two women, from Burlington, have been charged with first-degree murder, unlawful confinement, assault with a weapon (zip tie) and neglect of the essentials of life, to which both have pleaded not guilty. The case began in mid-September.

The 12-year-old, known by the alias L.L., was found unconscious, wet and on the floor of a basement room on December 21, 2022, which was locked from the outside. Witnesses said she was severely malnourished and emaciated and looked like a six-year-old. She died after being taken to hospital.

Prosecutors say the two women severely abused and neglected the indigenous children they were trying to adopt. But lawyers for the defendants say the children had special needs and major behavioral problems and the couple struggled with minimal support from social institutions.

Details of the Internet searches that worried the court
The judge in the case, Clayton Conlon, called several of the searches “particularly noteworthy”:

A search for “I did not love my adopted child” on August 15, 2022
A search for “I hate my child” on December 19, 2022
A search for the concept of murder, manslaughter and manslaughter on January 1, 2023
A search for “Delete Wyze” on January 2, 2023
A visit to a website about “rumination syndrome” on January 3, 2023
A search for “crime scene cleanup” on January 16, 2023
Searches for aspiration, deleting photos from an iPhone and financial aid after a child’s death were also recorded.

Disturbing Behavior, Texts, and Recorded Negligence
The court heard text messages showing the two women repeatedly calling the children “loser,” “stupid,” and “stupid.” Another text asks Connie’s father—who lived with them—whether the stain on the child’s bed was blood or vomit; Humber replied, “I don’t care. It doesn’t matter.”

Two weeks before L.L.’s death, it was discovered that she weighed less than she did when she was six. However, her doctor did not refer her to the emergency room.

Humber’s Statement in 2023 Interrogation
The prosecution played an hour-long video of Humber’s interrogation in 2023, in which he denies ever tying J.L. up with a zip tie or feeding her pureed food. He also denied knowing about the home’s security cameras.

Continuing proceedings
The trial, which will be held without a jury and with only a judge, will continue on Friday with the prosecutor continuing to question Sergeant Powers. The hearings are expected to continue until mid-January.

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