The woman charged in connection with the drowning of a five-year-old girl at Wabamun Lake has now been charged with Manslaughter. Mary Quinn, aged 35 of Edmonton was originally charged with failing to provide the necessities of life after the child was found deceased at Moonlight Bay on Lake Wabamun in October 2024.
Editors Note – This article has been updated from the original which appeared on January 6th in the AB Post.
Details Surrounding the Charges that shocked a Community.
According to prosecutors, Quinn and the child did not know each other—a fact that has made the case even more unsettling and disturbing. At the time of the incident, Quinn was reportedly under house arrest, serving a conditional sentence for forcibly entering a stranger’s home while intoxicated and armed with a gardening tool made threatening statements to the occupant of the house.
This sentence for that crime was handed down less than three weeks before the drowning.
Prosecutor John Schmidt revealed that Quinn violated the terms of her conditional sentence by failing to notify her bail supervisor of her presence at Wabamun Lake on October 13.
Furthermore, she did not obtain consent from the child’s family to take her onto the lake in a canoe. Neither Quinn nor the child wore life jackets during the outing. During the bail hearing, Schmidt strongly recommended that Quinn remain in custody.
It’s not believed Quinn deliberately planned to kill the child, he said, but he said her actions show an attempt to hide her involvement.
He said the girl would still be alive if the accused had obeyed her house arrest or if she had called for help when the child fell into the water.
A Shocking and Tragic String of Events
Schmidt described how the girl’s father began searching for her after realizing she was missing. He sought help from three fishermen, who used their motorboat to approach a canoe they had spotted at the far end of Moonlight Bay. The men observed Quinn in the canoe, with one arm submerged in the water, appearing to hold something.
Although the court did not hear how the child ended up in Quinn’s canoe, Schmidt stated that the pair were strangers and that the child’s father had not given Quinn permission to take his daughter onto the water.
A bystander flying a drone over the scene captured footage that reportedly appeared to show Quinn holding the girl underwater. When the father reached the canoe in another boat, he confronted Quinn, who claimed she did not know where the child was. However, the father saw a small foot under the canoe and dove into the water. He recovered his daughter’s body and began CPR.
The fishermen transported the father and child to shore, where paramedics took over, but the girl was pronounced deceased.
Quinn’s Conflicting Statements and Subsequent Arrest
At the scene, Quinn told witnesses that the child had leaned over the canoe’s side to chase a duck, causing the boat to capsize. However, investigators later determined that the canoe had not overturned, prompting police to treat the incident as a criminal matter. Quinn was arrested shortly after.
On October 17, police confirmed that they no longer believed the canoe had capsized, reiterating that the fatal incident was being investigated as a crime.
During the bail hearing, defense lawyer Jason Leung argued for Quinn’s release under strict conditions, asserting that the exact circumstances of the drowning remained unclear. He suggested there were alternative explanations for how the child might have ended up in the water and added that Quinn, who cannot swim, may have been in shock during the incident.
Appearing in court via closed-circuit TV for her bail hearing on November 27th, from the Edmonton Remand Centre, Quinn reportedly yawned with her hands behind her back as Justice Saccomani reviewed the case facts.
Judge Rosanna Saccomani said Quinn had been given the privilege of serving her conditional sentence in the community but continued chastising Quinn “Your compliance with release orders cannot be trusted,” she said. “You were supposed to be in your residence.” while describing the victim as “highly vulnerable.”
“She was taken from the safety of the beach into the water,” she said. “And while in the company of a stranger, the young child died by drowning.”
The judge said if the girl had fallen into the water, it’s bizarre the accused didn’t seek help from the fishermen who approached her. “It would be expected, if the child is in the water and you can’t see the child … you wouldn’t have your hands in the water,” Saccomani said.
Saccomani ultimately denied bail, citing concerns that Quinn could pose a significant risk to public safety if released.
The RCMP Major Crimes Unit continues to review evidence, including the drone footage and investigate the events surrounding the case.
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