A British Columbia woman who was convicted of murdering her eight-year-old daughter has been found dead in prison.
Correctional Service Canada says Lisa Batstone, who was serving an indeterminate sentence for suffocating her sleeping child with a plastic bag in 2014, died in custody on Monday.
It adds Batstone died in the Fraser Valley Institution and her next of kin have been notified.
The woman was sentenced in 2019 to life in prison with no parole eligibility for 15 years.
She appealed her conviction and sentence after her trial, arguing her mental health issues were not given adequate weight and the judge was wrong to find she had the intent to kill.
In rejecting Batstone’s appeal, Justice Richard Goepel said in his 2021 ruling that although the trial judge made three errors in her decision, all were harmless and didn’t impact the conclusion that the appellant had the “requisite intent.”
Batstone was described in her original trial as “deeply devoted to Teagan” and to the girl’s well-being, but she remained bitter over her divorce and blamed her ex-husband for what she believed were her daughter’s “separation anxiety and other struggles.”
The correctional service says it will inform police and the coroner, and will review the circumstances of Batstone’s death.
source & photo : CityNews
