B.C. ministry facing lawsuit to review toddler Isabella Wiens’ death in care

VANCOUVER – British Columbia's children's ministry will review the case of a toddler whose death in foster care prompted a high-profile lawsuit against the province.

A second coroner's report has also been released in the death of 21-month-old Isabella Wiens, whose badly bruised and fractured body was found in her Burnaby, B.C., foster home in March 2013.

Mother Sara-Jane Wiens launched a lawsuit against the Ministry of Children and Family Development earlier this year, alleging the government failed to properly supervise her daughter or adequately consider returning her home.

Minister Stephanie Cadieux wrote in a letter to member of the legislature Doug Donaldson late last month that while the death didn't initially qualify for a case review, new information has emerged.

Barbara McLintock of the B.C. Coroners Service says the new report is meant to answer some of Wiens' questions and is based on the initial investigation conducted after Isabella's death.

The report maintains the child's injuries could have been accidental or caused by trauma, but also reveals new details including that the toddler did not visit a doctor in the six months before her death.