Ruling expected in case of Ontario women accused of killing boy and confining sibling

A Halton Regional Police logo is shown on a vehicle in Oakville, Ont., Wednesday, Jan.18, 2023. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Richard Buchan

MILTON — An Ontario judge is expected to deliver his ruling today in the case of two women accused of killing a boy they were trying to adopt and confining his brother.

Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney are charged with first-degree murder in the death of a 12-year-old boy.

The pair are also charged with multiple offences, including forcible confinement, related to the boy’s younger brother.

At the time of the arrests, police said the women were the boys’ prospective adoptive parents.

Investigators said the 12-year-old was found dead in a home in December 2022 after emergency crews were called for a child without vital signs.

The case is being heard by a judge alone in a Milton, Ont. courthouse.

In a statement emailed by her lawyer, the boys’ mother described them as “amazing, funny and intelligent human beings with bigger than life personalities.”

“I want people to understand that we are not just a case or a story. We are real people, a family who has lived through heartbreak. They are innocent children who deserved to be loved, to be protected and feel safe,” she wrote.

Neither the children nor their mother can be identified under a publication ban.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 5, 2026.