Police credit the efforts of a medical examiner in Alberta for helping them lay a murder charge against a babysitter asked to care for a toddler in southeastern B.C.
Tammy Marion Bouvette, 28, appeared in provincial court in Cranbrook on Tuesday in connection with a second-degree murder charge involving the death of 19-month-old Iyanna Teeple.
The little girl died in Alberta Children's Hospital in Calgary on May 29, three days after she was found in a Cranbrook home, unconscious and not breathing.
A forensic autopsy confirmed the baby died of drowning after being left with a babysitter.
RCMP Cpl. Chris Faulkner said Bouvette was interviewed several times before the matter was forwarded to the Crown in June.
Bouvette was arrested on Monday, when the second-degree murder charge was approved, nearly five months after Iyanna's death.
Bouvette did not run a day care, but Iyanna's parents knew her and had previously used her as a babysitter, Faulkner said.
"(Bouvette) was not this child's regular babysitter," he said. "She is a mom herself. The parents of the baby were acquaintances of Tammy and I'm told used her infrequently to babysit when necessary. She is certainly not a registered day carer."
Bouvette's four children are all under the age of 10, Faulkner said.
"The parents of the child thought she would be safe and tragically events unfolded within the house and we have a young girl who is dead."
Bouvette was detained in custody until her next court appearance on Nov. 9 in Cranbrook.
Mounties are releasing few details of their investigation but say the efforts of the medical examiner in Calgary were instrumental in pushing the case forward.
