Testimony in an Ontario courtroom on Monday cast a harsh light on the final years of a 12-year-old boy’s life, as prosecutors continued to outline their case against Burlington couple Becky Hamber and Brandy Cooney. Both women have pleaded not guilty to first-degree murder in the 2022 death of L.L., a child who had been placed in their home as a potential adoptive son. A publication ban protects his identity, as well as that of his younger brother, J.L.
Sgt. Julie Powers of the Halton Regional Police took the stand to describe the extensive digital evidence she reviewed during the investigation. She told the court she combed through thousands of photos, videos, and audio recordings pulled from the women’s phones. Among them were text messages that Powers said showed the couple mocking and belittling L.L., referring to him as a “loser,” “such an [expletive].”
The recordings, played aloud in the courtroom, captured a dynamic prosecutors say reflected ongoing mistreatment and deprivation. In an 18-minute clip, L.L. repeatedly asks to go outside. His requests go unanswered. Text exchanges between the women about the same recording reveal their frustration, with one message describing the boy as rude and another suggesting it would be “amazing if his new meds made him zonk.”
A second recording, dated December 28, 2020, captured a lengthy argument over how L.L. was completing stair exercises. One of the women warns him that “failing” will mean more stairs and burpees. The clip ends with shouting, orders to go to his room, and more slurs.
Powers said early photos on their phones depict the couple smiling with both boys, but over time, that changed. As the years passed, she told the court, L.L. appeared in fewer images. Meanwhile, other pictures show both children wearing onesies and later wetsuits, some modified with holes at the neck. Police allege the suits were used to zip-tie the boys into their clothing. Investigators recovered bags of zip ties from the home.
The Crown argues that the couple locked the boys in their rooms, closely monitored them with cameras, restricted their food, and imposed punitive exercise routines. Prosecutors say the women exaggerated or fabricated behavioral issues to justify their treatment.
The defense maintains a different picture entirely, claiming Hamber and Cooney were overwhelmed and unsupported as they attempted to care for two children with special needs. They argue the wetsuits were simply a response to the boys urinating indoors. J.L., the younger brother, disputed that explanation when he testified earlier this month.
When Crown lawyer Monica MacKenzie asked Powers whether she found any photos showing injuries Hamber claimed the boys caused—including a broken arm—the sergeant said she did not. She also testified there were no images of the boys interacting with friends.
According to earlier testimony, L.L. spent his final day alive locked in his basement bedroom while the women monitored him on a camera feed. A protection worker told the court that the couple reported the boy vomited, screamed, and kicked the door throughout the afternoon. By early evening, they said he seemed calmer. When Cooney checked on him, she found him unresponsive and surrounded by vomit. First responders reported he was severely malnourished, weighing roughly what a six-year-old child would. He died shortly after being taken to the hospital.
The pathologist who examined him said the boy may have died from hypothermia or cardiac arrest linked to extreme malnourishment, though the exact cause could not be determined.
The trial, which began in mid-September, is set to continue through December.
