Kamloops mom pleads guilty to killing newborn son

KAMLOOPS – A Kamloops mother has admitted to killing her newborn son.

At Courtney Fawn Saul's preliminary hearing in Kamloops Provincial Court this week, she changed her plea to guilty on one count of infanticide, according to Crown prosectuor Evan Goulet.

The details of the hearing cannot be published under a court-ordered publication ban.

Saul was originally charged with infanticide and interference with a dead body, but those charges were stayed in 2012, about six months after the death of her son George Carlos Saul.

The charges were upgraded to second degree murder, but downgraded again to infanticide last month.

Canada's infanticide law has recently come under fire from child advocates. Canada's criminal code states: Every female person who commits infanticide is guilty of an indictable offence and liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years.

An infanticide charge can be laid if there is proof the mother's mind was disturbed at the time of the killing.

Saul's next court appearance is scheduled for Oct. 17 in Kamloops Provincial Court.

To contact a reporter for this story, email Ashley Legassic or call 250-319-7494 or email the editor. You can also submit photos, videos or news tips to the newsroom and be entered to win a monthly prize draw.

We welcome your comments and opinions on our stories but play nice. We won't censor or delete comments unless they contain off-topic statements or links, unnecessary vulgarity, false facts, spam or obviously fake profiles. If you have any concerns about what you see in comments, email the editor in the link above.