Manitoba inquiry hears young girl beaten, choked, shot in final days

WINNIPEG – An inquiry into a Manitoba girl’s death is hearing more details about the abuse the five-year-old suffered in the final days of her short life.

A woman who cannot be identified under a publication ban says one of her sons told her in 2005 that Phoenix Sinclair was being beaten, choked and shot with a pellet gun.

The woman told the inquiry that months later, in early 2006, her son told her that Phoenix had been killed, so the woman called authorities.

The woman is a former common-law spouse of Karl Wesley McKay, who, along with Phoenix’s mother, was convicted of first-degree murder in the girl’s death.

The woman’s sons lived in the same home as Phoenix during the final weeks of the child’s life.

The inquiry is examining how child welfare failed to protect Phoenix, who spent much of her life in foster care or with family friends.