B.C. man pleads guilty in the snake venom death of a two-year-old girl

VANCOUVER – A British Columbia man has pleaded guilty to one count of failing to provide the necessaries of life for the death by snake venom of a two-year-old girl.

Alisia Adams with the BC Prosecution Service confirmed Henry Thomas made the plea in North Vancouver provincial court on Thursday.

Thomas was charged earlier this year, more than five years after the death of two-year-old Aleka Gonzales.

She died on May 19, 2014, and RCMP said in January that a test confirmed the girl had been poisoned by snake venom.

Police said the girl was left in the care of Thomas the day before her death and he returned her to her mother in North Vancouver that day.

The next morning the little girl was found dead.

Police said an in-depth investigation was launched and in July 2015 officers searched the man's home where snakes and related equipment were seized.

The RCMP say further DNA work was done in the following years and tests confirmed that snake venom was the cause of the two-year-old's death.

A sentencing hearing for Thomas has been scheduled for Oct. 3.