 |   Jacqueline Dawn Brewer was only 28 mos old when she died on this day. The toddler lay dead in her crib for at least 8 hours before her father called police.Forensic evidence showed that her lifeless body was nibbled at by one of the family's pet chinchillas and medical experts testified that Jacqueline's body had already begun to show signs of decomposition by the time her father called 911 shortly after 9pm. The wide attention that Jacqueline's death has attracted is a stark contrast to her short life.Shut away in dirty little room for hours on end,she was largely ignored by her parents.At the trial,witness after witness testified that they rarely saw Jacqueline out of her room. A medical expert testified that deprivation by her parents was the likely cause of death.She had not been given anything to drink for several hours before her death.Mark Janes and Helen Brewer, her parents had been under the watchful eye of Health and community services who investigated more then a dozen complaints. December 17 1997 Mark Janes and Helen Brewer were sentenced to 4 years in jail for failing to provide the necessities of life to their child. The judge had delayed sentencing until the anniversary of their daughter's death. Justice Hugh Mclellan decided that a jail sentence alone for Mark Janes and Helen Brewer would not stop other parents from neglecting their children.He suggested building a memorial in an uptown park and holding yearly services to honour little Jacqueline Brewer. "Such a monument could record" "In loving memory of Jacqueline Brewer aged 28 mos,who died in Saint John on Dec.17 ,1996,neglected,dehydrated and forgotten in her crib at home where she lived in loneliness squalor and misery with her parents,under the supervision of social workers,health care experts and child protection officials.Her death diminishes all of us.We will remember Jacqueline." Update:September 16th 1998 Helen Brewer was released on day parole after only 9 months in jail. September 10th 1999: Miss Brewer has confirmed she is pregnant again - this time by a Moncton-area crack addict with a criminal record. Helen Rose Brewer told the National Parole Board she hopes to keep the baby, due around February 2000. She was denied full parole. Update: August 31st 1999 Marc Janes was granted day parole to a halfway house in Fredericton on Aug. 31 1999. Mr. Janes served 23 months - less than half of his four-year sentence. Mr. Janes told the parole board that he wanted another chance at life. He said he plans to continue with counselling, abstain from drugs and alcohol, upgrade his education and get a job. He doesn't believe his ex-wife should be able to keep her new baby. Helen Brewer and Mark Janes have two other childen besides Jacqueline who were taken away after their arrest. Update: March 2000,Helen Brewer gave birth to a baby girl in late February. Her baby was seized by child protection authorities and given up for adoption. Miss Brewer was granted parole and is now living in West saint John. There was a Report by the NB Child Death Review Committee on the Death of Jacqueline Dawn Brewer click here to read it  Jacqueline as an infant with an unnidentified woman  Jacqueline's grave St-Joseph's cemetary,Saint John NB |