Bail has been denied for two mothers charged with attempted murder in what police have called a “disturbing” case of child abuse.
The women cannot be named because of a court-ordered publication ban to protect the identities of the children. CBC News is identifying the mothers by their initials — JL, age 24, and AM, 23.
In December, a babysitter found JL’s two daughters, aged 3 and 6, inside closed cardboard boxes in the barricaded basement of a northeast Edmonton home.
Sources told CBC the girls were malnourished and had bruises and broken bones when they were found.
AM’s three children, aged 2, 3, and 5, were upstairs in the two-storey townhouse at the time, sources told CBC. AM’s children didn’t show the same signs of abuse.
AM has been charged with:
- One count of attempted murder.
- One count of aggravated assault.
- Two counts of abandonment of a child.
- Five counts of unlawful confinement.
- Two counts of criminal negligence.
- Two counts of assault with a weapon.
JL has been charged with:
- One count of attempted murder.
- One count of aggravated assault.
- Two counts of abandonment of a child.
- Two counts of duty to provide necessaries of life.
- Five counts of unlawful confinement.
- Two counts of criminal negligence.