Kyla Frenchman, mother of Tanner Brass, wipes a tear at a joint media event organized by The Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations (FSIN) in Saskatoon, Wednesday, March 2, 2022. Tanner's father, Kaij Brass, is to be sentenced for manslaughter. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Liam Richards
PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. – A judge has sentenced a Saskatchewan father to 16 years for manslaughter in the beating death of his toddler.
Kaij Brass of Prince Albert, Sask., was given about three year’s credit for the time he has spent in pretrial custody.
An agreed statement of facts says the man repeatedly hit 13-month-old Tanner Brass in 2022.
Police officers who showed up at the family’s home in the hours before the killing were found to have neglected their duty in not checking on the child.
Court heard Kaij Brass and the boy’s mother got into a dispute and Brass kicked her out of their home, causing the toddler to cry.
Brass spanked then hit the toddler on the chest and head out of frustration.
The document says Brass noticed the boy was breathing heavily and bleeding from the mouth but went to bed and, when he woke up, the child was dead.
A Public Complaints Commission report last year into the death says two officers were called to the home and spoke with the mother after she was kicked out.
The officers did not enter the house or try to check on the child, and five hours later Brass called 911 saying he had killed his son.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Feb. 26, 2024.
