First responders testify about extraordinary efforts to try to save Saint John toddler
CBC
WARNING: This story contains graphic content some readers may find disturbing.
One of the first police officers to answer the call about a toddler swallowing what turned out to be a Ping-Pong ball described the efforts to try to save him.
Const. Tara Stewart told a court Wednesday that she and her partner were two streets away from the boy's home and arrived within seconds of the call on Sept. 18, 2021.
Her partner, Const. Matthew Innes, jumped out of the cruiser before she'd come to a complete stop. By the time Stewart entered the darkly lit hallway of the apartment, Innes was already working on the two-year-old.
Stewart was the first witness to testify at the sentencing hearing for Karrson Bennett, who pleaded guilty Monday to second-degree murder. Instead of a five-week jury trial in the Court of King's Bench, the Crown is now presenting a five-day sentencing hearing.
In an agreed statement of facts, Bennett admitted to intentionally putting a Ping-Pong ball into the child's mouth and thereby causing his death.
Prosecutor Chris Ryan explained to the court that the Crown wants the judge to consider as an aggravating factor the amount of force needed to push a plastic ball into a two-year-old's throat.
Stewart said an object wasn't even visible when the officers looked into the boy's mouth.
"I was in shock when I actually saw what had been removed," she said of the ball.
Stewart said she and Innes had tried different things, including chest compressions and holding the boy up and giving him back blows.
As she described the revival efforts, Stewart had to pause to compose herself. She apologized, saying "it's different when it's a child."
Stewart said she was struck by something Bennett said as the officers worked on the boy, which was "I told him not to put that ball in his mouth."
The tone Bennett used showed "zero emotion … and it just shook me," Stewart said. She didn't feel it was appropriate, given the officers were trying everything they could to save him.
Before Stewart testified, Crown prosecutor Elaina Campbell said they'd been referring to the ball as a Ping-Pong ball. In fact, even the charge to which Bennett pleaded guilty, refers to a Ping-Pong ball.
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