PRINCE ALBERT – A two-week non-jury trial for Kaij Brass on a second-degree murder charge has now been scheduled in Prince Albert Court of King’s Bench starting Feb. 26, 2024.
Brass was arrested in February 2022 after police found 13-month-old Tanner Brass deceased at a Prince Albert home on Feb. 10, 2022.
Two Prince Albert Police Service [PAPS] patrol officers had been dispatched to a domestic dispute at 233 - 23 Street West in Prince Albert at approximately 5:44 a.m. on Feb. 10, 2022. PAPS officers removed the mother from the home. Officers were called back to the home about five hours later and found the baby deceased. Brass was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
On Feb. 18, 2022, during a Federation of Sovereign Indigenous Nations [FSIN] Zoom virtual meeting broadcast on social media, a spokesperson for Kyla Frenchman, the baby's mother, said that Frenchman had turned to police for help during a domestic dispute and instead they handcuffed and arrested her and took her to the police cells.
“That night I begged and pleaded with police to help me and my baby," read Frenchman’s statement. "I was scared and I needed their help.
“I thought they were supposed to help me and they didn’t. Instead, they accused me of being drunk, they put me in handcuffs, and put me in a cell. They ignored my continued pleas to protect my child.
“I wanted them to protect myself and my child that night and they failed. They took my baby away from me. I believe Tanner would still be alive if they had listened to me. I don’t want this to happen ever again to any Indigenous woman in this country.”
In March 2022, the Prince Albert Police Chief suspended two officers from active duty pending the outcome of an independent investigation.
In February 2022, FSIN had called for the firings of Prince Albert’s Police Chief Jonathan Bergen, the sergeant who was on duty and two officers who were involved in the investigation.
In a prepared statement to media, FSIN Chief Bobby Cameron said they have long been calling for full inclusion of First Nations peoples within the justice system with their own Tribal Police and full representation in all areas of the justice system from judges to crown prosecutors, lawyers, and legal aid.
Cameron said the Public Complaints Commission’s independent investigation will fail since there are no First Nations inclusion.
“Give it up, throw it away, throw it out the window, it’s going to fail.”
The second-degree murder charge against Brass hasn't been tested in court.
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