Trueheart’s Source Wrote:

On July 23, 2004, at approximately 9:00pm, I was in the comfort of my home, relaxing and watching a movie. I received a phone call from my daughter. She wanted to tell me that Evelyn Donaldson, who resides at 45 Sterling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, had something to talk to me about me. At this point, I’m contemplating even taking the call because I prefer not to socialize with this lady mentioned above. But I take the call in case there is something urgent she needs to tell me about my daughter, for that to me would be the only necessary reason she would have for contacting me, because my daughter is in her home visiting Samantha Norman, Evelyn Donaldson’s 15 year old daughter. Tori was expected home by approximately 9:30pm.

When Victoria (Tori) handed the phone over to Evelyn, and she immediately and repeatedly invited me over to socialize with her boyfriend and her other guests, I calmly declined her invitation four times, stating that I was relaxing - watching a movie. She was not satisfied with my response and continued her yelling. I finally just added that I would be over there shortly to pick up my daughter. She continued to badger and insult me with unkind vile words. I was in shock that she was doing this. I finally told her “I do not want to be yelled at by you, because I do not want to go over to visit you. I will be there shortly to pick up my daughter.”

I didn’t expect what happened next. Suddenly she began threatening that she was not going to permit my daughter to leave. She said that my daughter wants to stay and doesn’t want to be with me, her mother that she completely chose to be with. She lives with me because she chooses to, not because I make her. It felt like she was trying to provoke an altercation with me over my daughter, but I chose not to participate in her anger. I truly felt that my daughter was in danger there due to the level of anger Evelyn was expressing over the telephone.

Evelyn yelled while I told her again, that I would be there shortly to pick up my daughter to bring her home, but she just kept getting angrier. I got off the phone with her immediately and called the police station to ask what was best to do, for I didn’t want to waste a 911 call for a crime that hadn’t been committed yet. I was calling the police because she had threatened the safety and well being of my child intentionally, and unknown to me that this woman was willing to hurt my child because she was angry at me for not wanting to go socialize with her and her guests. I was totally dumbfounded/stumped at this. Bringing my daughter home safely was my primary objective. I wanted to go there with the intent to not start an altercation. I just wanted my daughter safe.

Hoping to feel reassured by the police that they would help my daughter, I went ahead and proceeded to go pick up my daughter from 45 Sterling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario.

I dialed 236-1222 (approximately 9:10pm), to alert them, that I had just been threatened. I briefly explained what was said, and that I told the lady I would be arriving to pick up my daughter. I said I was calling for the police for reassurance that should I required assistance to get my daughter safely and that the police could intervene on my daughter’s behalf. I made the female police employee aware that I was verbally threatened that she was going to withhold my daughter. The female police employee did not assure me and talked to me in a bold and sarcastic manner mostly. Upon hanging up the phone I didn’t want to rush over there. I wanted to arrive calm and collected, afraid that she may try to hurt my daughter or me.

When I was ready to leave, I thought only to bring my cell phone so that I had a way to call 911 in the event that there could be a problem; I brought it for my daughter’s safety as well as for mine.

At approximately 9:20 pm I arrived at 45 Sterling Avenue. I knocked on the door gently, and heard Victoria (Tori) say, “Come in,” and I opened the door, saw Victoria sitting down on a futon. She looked happy to see me and when I said it was time to go, she got up to get her shoes and say goodbye. At this point I walked away from the front door over to the front porch to wait for her come out. I didn’t enter the home at all, concerned that an altercation would start.

As soon as I walked to the porch, the door slammed shut and I heard screaming. I immediately called 911 on my cell phone. I explained everything to the police employee and she kept me on the line with her for 15 to 20 minutes. During this time, I told the 911 operator what I was witnessing through the front window. I could hear Evelyn and Victoria screaming. Victoria screaming to be let go, and Evelyn screaming that she was not going to let her go. I saw her physically restrain my daughter and pinned her down on the futon. I described what I was witnessing to the 911 operator and the screaming could be heard. There were about 15 people in total outside asking what’s wrong while I was on the phone with the 911 operator. About 5-10 minutes of Victoria screaming for help, Evelyn came outside on the porch with her phone as she talked to someone. I backed away from the building (45 Sterling) because I felt threatened by her. She was on the phone with someone saying things about me to the person on the line. I continued to talk to the 911 operator – it was all I could do. I did not come there to fight to get my daughter home, I wanted to safely take her home away from this woman that was physically restraining my daughter.

Finally she said the police are on their way. Within approximately 5-10 minutes a police officer, Constable Shawn Convey arrived on the scene. He asked me what happened, spoke to me for about 30 seconds, wrote nothing down, and adamantly told me he would be right back to give him 30 seconds, that he would come talk to me when he is done talking to the people in the house. So I waited for him to return with my daughter but he didn’t return with her. There was another officer that came to talk to me and ask me questions and then he told me he would be right back. While I waited I made a couple of calls, and I stayed on the line with Jennifer McFee, my very good friend of 13 years to tell her what had happened. She was on the line with me until the officers came out of the house.

The officers didn’t bring my daughter to me, the four officers, now there were four all of a sudden, circled me and blocked me from leaving. They were questioning me, badgering me, threatening me and talking down to me and not explaining why they were treating me this way and they wanted me to make a “deal” with them or they were not going to release my daughter. I let them ask all the questions/badgering I could take, and then from the corner of my eye, I could see my daughter on her bike coming close to me and as soon as I saw her I asked her if they were letting her come home with me now, and she looked to the officer Shawn Convey and asked him if she can leave with me now, and he let her leave. As soon as we left Sterling Avenue and walked across the park, I called Jennifer McFee immediately to tell her that my daughter and I were on our way home finally. I could not speak to her any more I could not speak or breathe right from the stress of this incident. I passed the phone to Victoria to talk to Jennifer to tell her what happened for I was unable to.

We arrived home and I called the Parent’s Help Line so that I could get some referrals of who to call right away. When I got off the phone with them, I called one of the references the lady gave me, the Victim’s Crisis Unit at the police station. When I called, they put me through to the Staff Sergeant Bhat Nagar, and I told him what had happened and that we required Victim’s Crisis Intervention. He could not help me but he did obtain the case file number and gave this to me. The police didn’t allow us to lay charges against Evelyn Donaldson at the scene of the crime. My daughter and I went to the Police Department on Elgin Street, the following day, Saturday July 24, 2004, at approximately 2pm to request that we be permitted to lay charges. They didn’t permit us to. I ask a certified councilor, Carole Mallows, to come to the police station to act as a witness on our behalf. When she arrived the officer, Shawn Convey, would not permit her to sit with us and witness our discussion and to witness that we were asking to press charges. But he didn’t let us and when Constable Convey was done talking to us, he asked Carole Mallows in the room, and didn’t permit us to listen to what was said. We left the station, and went home. After this we exhausted our resources to get the right help for the two of us. I have taken a leave of absence to ensure that my daughter is safe after this crime has been committed against her. We were both pretty shaken over what had happened, all we wanted was for charges to be laid for this crime.

Submitted as an Affidavit to be sworn in/affirmed by a Justice of the Peace, in Ottawa, Ontario