CALGARY -- A judge found a former Calgary man who had been accused of killing his four-year-old daughter not guilty of second-degree murder.
Oluwatosin Oluwafemi, 44, pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder in the 2014 death of Olive Rebekah Oluwafemi.
"I’m not satisfied beyond a reasonable doubt the fatal injury was caused by Mr. Oluwafemi," said Justice Suzanne Bensler in her ruling.
She added that the crown had not proven without a reasonable doubt that Mr. Oluwafemi caused Rebekah's death or intended to cause her harm.
Bensler said Rebekah was likely a victim of child abuse, but there is no confirmation the girl had been abused by both parents.
The trial heard that Oluwafemi called his wife around 3 p.m. on the afternoon of Dec. 19, 2014 after his daughter had gone into cardiac arrest at their home in the southeast neighbourhood of Erin Woods.
The little girl —who the Crown referred to as Rebekah — was rushed to the Peter Lougheed Hospital just after 4 p.m. and pronounced dead at 4:43 p.m., nine days before what would have been her fifth birthday.
A paramedic who responded to the call testified that he found the girl unconscious and not breathing. He said the girl's father gave no explanation as to what had happened.
Crown Prosecutor Donna Spaner said in her closing argument to Justice Suzanne Bensler that there may be just circumstantial evidence, but common sense has made it clear Oluwafemi killed his child.
"He assaulted her in a manner that included multiple blows, punches, kicks and/or slaps," Spaner told court. "The assaultive behaviours culminated with an event of force that caused the catastrophic damage to her neck, to her cervical spine."
It was the Crown's theory that Oluwafemi inflicted multiple, non-accidental injuries on his daughter. In doing so, they say he either intended to kill her or cause her bodily harm that he knew would likely cause her death.
Rebekah’s injuries were consistent with jumping head first into a swimming pool without water and hitting her head.
Court heard Oluwafemi, who worked as a mining engineer, was laid off in October 2014 and was unemployed at the time of his daughter's death. The Crown says he was the only person in the home looking after the child.
Oluwafemi’s lawyer Rebecca Snukal told court there was no proof her client did anything to the little girl. She said Rebekah was an active child who got bumps and bruises from her rough play.
Snukal told the judge that Rebekah’s mother admitted to having disciplined her child by pulling her ears, hitting the palm of her hand with a flip-flop, smacking her or yelling.
Oluwafemi was arrested in Ontario a year after his daughter died. He has moved to the community of Keswick to be closer to family.
With files from The Canadian Press
