Dad sentenced to 12 years in prison for smothering infant son, leaving mother for dead (Cornwall, Ontario, Canada)

Dad CARSON DAY has been sentenced to a minimum of 12 years in prison for smothering to death his infant son, and slitting the throat of the infant's mother, who was left for dead. Good old Canada--so tough on child killers and batterers. NOT.

http://cnews.canoe.ca/CNEWS/Crime/2010/04/26/13732426-qmi.html

April 27, 2010

Man who killed son to serve at least 12 years

Akwesasne man smothered infant after trying to kill wife

By DAVID NESETH, QMI Agency

CORNWALL — A 23-year-old Akwesasne man who murdered his infant son and left his wife for dead won’t be eligible for parole for at least 15 years, a judge has ruled.

Carson Day pleaded guilty last December to the second-degree murder of his son, 20-month-old Landon, by smothering him at their Cornwall Island apartment in the early morning hours of July 14, 2007.

Landon's murder happened shortly after the attempted murder of the baby's 19-year-old mother, who Day admitted to slashing across the neck with a knife.

Day then slit his own wrists in a failed suicide attempt, the court heard.

Justice Johanne Lafrance-Cardinal sentenced Day to a seven-year concurrent sentence for the attempted murder.

Taking into account Day’s pretrial custody, he may be eligible for parole on July 14, 2022.

Lafrance-Cardinal shared extensive details with the court about Day’s background from a pre-sentence report. It depicted Day as a smuggler who could pocket between $5,000 - $30,000 each month.

“There was too much of everything — drugs, power and woman [sic],” Day told officials for the report.

The report often warned about the allure of the smuggling trade for young people like Day in Akwesasne. It referred to the “ill-conceived justification” of the lifestyle because of its deep roots in trade and commerce within First Nations culture. The smuggling trade, the report said, creates many “pitfalls” for youth.

According to the report, Day developed an addiction to OxyContin, a habit that progressed to 10 to 15 pills per day.

He was kicked out of school in Grade 9 for drug use, the report stated.

Day had been trying to beat his drug habit, but the court heard how he soon found himself wrapped up in an extramarital affair. His common-law life had contracted a sexually-transmitted disease through him and his new partner.

The court heard how Day grew more and more removed from friends and family, convinced that he’d made his entire family sick.

“He was afraid they were all sick, that the baby was sick,” the report stated.

According to the pre-sentence report, Day had attempted to commit suicide at least twice leading up to the night he killed his son and tried to kill his wife.

Akwesasne Mohawk Police found an HIV information pamphlet and a suicide note from Day at the scene, Lafrance-Cardinal said.

After the police arrived at the scene, Day charged the officers with a knife, shouting for them to shoot him. He was shocked with a Taser four times and placed into custody.