Burlington couple sentenced to life in prison for murder of 12-year-old boy

A shocking scene in a courtroom in Milton today.Two women from Burlington were sent to life in prison.

They'd been convicted of the horrific murder of a boy who was tortured and starved in their care and for torturing his younger brother.But there were gasps in the courtroom when the two women spoke out.Al Sweeney was there and joins us live to tell us what happened.Al.

Matt, people couldn't believe what they were hearing in court today when the convicted women spoke.One person called it sickening.But the brother of the boy who died also spoke out and said, justice has been done.Outside the Milton courthouse, a 14 -year -old, whose image has been blurred and voice altered to protect his identity, talked about what happened when he and his brother were living with two women who wanted to adopt them.Brandi Cooney and Becky Hamber in Burlington in 2022.

It's good that they got what they deserved and got sentenced to life in prison.That's good.

Evidence of the trial showed the two boys were kept out of school, abused, with food restricted, isolated in a basement with exercise as punishment, and made to wear jumpsuits with zip ties keeping them on.In court today, one of the women, Becky Hammer, said to the surviving boy, And Brandy Cooney suggested this is a wrongful conviction and a political bureaucracy nightmare.But the judge sent them to prison.The judge gave the two women the maximum sentence possible, life in prison with no parole for 25 years, as required by the law, but also 10 years in jail for their treatment of the surviving child.In court, the natural mother of the two boys said the pain of losing her son follows her every moment of her life and is difficultbeyond words.

Sarah Biasetti of St. Paul's School, where the boys went for a time, told the court staff at the school are still traumatized by what happened and the lack of help for the boys in the face of numerous failures in the system.

We knew that they were being confined.I was told by the younger brother that his older brother was confined in his bedroom downstairs.I made calls to C .A .S.We were fighting to get these kids the help that they need needed and that for C .

A .S.

to go in and do something.Carmelo Alfano and Kathy Wilson say they were neighbors with the boys in Burlington, but moved away because of what they saw, like the women yelling and screaming at the boys.

Many of us have been left with nightmares, distressing thoughts, deep regret and guilt, thinking that we could have done more.I will say that, um, Through the trial, you know, we've come to learn that this was a huge failure of the state in not acting when they were warned by many people about what was happening.

Carmelo says a GoFundMe page is going to be set up to help the surviving boy get an education.

We want to give him a chance.This poor kid got taken everything away from him.It was, it was, you know, you feel for the kid.You just, you fear for the kid.He didn't deserve any of this at all, right?

While a lawyer for Becky Hamber was distressed by the case.

The one thing you hope for is that the victims of this offense and this crime are able to do the best they can to repair themselves and move forward.And that particularly includes the young boy.

And the surviving brother says they should have been protected from the women.

I think there should be better checks on, like,More frequent checks on kids.

An indigenous spiritual ceremony, a smudging, was held in the courtroom before the sentencing was passed today.But with the boys having an indigenous background, indigenous leaders say this case shows the failures in Canada's systems.The defense lawyer isn't saying whether or not there will be an appeal.