Woman accused in child's drowning at Alberta lake facing manslaughter charge

The courthouse in Stony Plain, Alta. is shown on Nov. 27, 2024. THE CANADIAN PRESS/Aaron Sousa

EDMONTON — A woman accused in the drowning death of a five-year-old girl at an Alberta lake is facing an additional charge of manslaughter.

Mary Quinn, 35, was charged with failing to provide the necessaries of life after the child died in October at Wabamun Lake west of Edmonton.

A court record shows Quinn appeared in Stony Plain provincial court Wednesday, and she now faces a charge of manslaughter.

RCMP had initially said a girl and a woman were pulled from the lake after a canoe overturned and that the child died at the scene.

Days later, Mounties said they’d learned the canoe didn’t capsize and were treating the drowning as criminal.

Quinn is to next appear in court on Feb. 19.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 31, 2025.

Aaron Sousa, The Canadian Press