Death of Jaylene Redhead

Jaylene Redhead

Nicole gave birth to her daughter, Jaylene, in 2007. Social workers had seized Redhead’s previous two children and took Jaylene away after her birth in 2007. This was due to the fact that Nicole Redhead was a crack addict and admitted that she was supplementing her addiction through prostitution. After Jaylene was born, the government decided to remove Jaylene from Nicole due to the dangers which came with Nicole's chosen occupation. Jaylene was born going through drug withdrawal, and also had fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, both due to the poor life choices of her mother, Nicole. Despite this circumstance, Nicole and the Native Women’s Transition Centre in Winnipeg, believed the safest place for her daughter was by her side under their supervision. After winning back the right to raise her daughter, Nicole moved into the Native Women’s Transition Centre in Winnipeg, also known as Awasis. There, she began to consume large amounts of crack and beat her child. Nicole Redhead was given leave to her community, to live with her mother, which gave her free access to drugs with no supervision. In June 2009, just 6 months after the return of her child, Nicole Redhead murdered Jaylene by smothering her in a fit of rage after repeated sustained beatings. She refused to tell police, and once her boyfriend, Preston Tran an inmate at Headingley Correctional Institution, discovered what she had done, alerted the Winnipeg Police Service. Jaylene Sanderson Redhead was documented as the 14th homicide in Winnipeg of 2009.

Conviction

Nicole Redhead pleaded guilty to manslaughter, admitting she murdered her daughter in a fit of rage. The defence attorney asked for leniency, and stated that Nicole Redhead was prone to violent behaviour since she had seen her mother kill her father at a drinking party at the age of 9. The aftermath of which led to her being shuttled around through five foster homes, being sexually assaulted, before turning to drugs and working in the sex trade. However, the prosecution told the jury that Jaylene had suffered more than 30 injuries in the days prior to her death, including bites on her legs, swollen genitalia and kicks. She was sentenced to 12 years, which is what prosecution requested, of which she will have to spend 8 years and 8 months. The trial caused such an uproar in Canada that it was debated in the provincial legislature, and an inquest found 14 recommendations in order to prevent a tragedy like this from happening. The Office of the Children's Advocate of Manitoba was involved in the inquest and provided the Special Investigative Report. The panel lambasted the Native Women’s Transition Centre in Winnipeg, with Justice Larry Allen stating that "There does not appear to be any point to sending drug/alcohol addicted mothers to supposed 'safe houses' if these people are going to have free access to the community without making sure that their sobriety is tested". The grandmother of Jaylene Redhead says her life will never be the same after the murder, stating "God gave us these kids to look after them, not destroy them".