Justice Rosemary Nation has sentenced Marie Magoon and Spencer Jordan to life in prison with no chance of parole for 17 years in connection to the death of Spencer's daughter Meika Jordan.
Meika died in November 2011, a day after she was taken to the Alberta Children’s Hospital suffering from severe injuries.
Her biological father, Spencer Jordan, and stepmother, Marie Magoon, told EMS that the girl had fallen down the stairs, but an autopsy revealed that Meika had died of severe blunt force trauma to the head and she had suffered continuous abuse at the hands of the pair.
Jordan and Magoon were found guilty of second degree murder this past June.
Lawyers say the nature of the facts in the case are particularly ‘heinous’ and that justifies the more severe punishment.
Kyla and Brian Woodhouse, Meika's mother and stepfather, said their victim impact statements were the final steps in a difficult emotional process that lasted years.
"It’s impossible to describe," said Brian. "We spent months and months drawing up draft after draft and throwing them out and rewording, rewriting.
"How do you ever put into words what kind of impact that has?"
"It’s kind of bittersweet I guess," said Kyla. "These past few years we’ve always had that next date to look forward to and babysitters to plan and now it’s just kind of 'What do we do with ourselves?'."
Kyla Woodhouse said the apologies her daughter's killers issued during Friday's proceedings came far too late.
"That’s something that should have happened four years ago. I mean, when it comes right down to it, I think it was decent of them to at least offer that to us, kind of a little bit of closure for us on our end."
"In no way do we accept it as an apology. That's nothing you can apologize for."
The Woodhouses say they're not disappointed with the outcome. They're glad the judge heard their pleas and that Meika's killers will spend a considerable time behind bars.
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