Father accused of killing baby said police 'better not pin this on me,' grandmother tells court
Lawyer for accused says witness 'looking for things that you could think of ... that made him look bad'
The grandmother of a three-month-old boy who died in 2020 told a Winnipeg courtroom on Tuesday about the night her grandson was rushed to hospital — and how while there, she heard the baby's father say that police "better not pin this on me."
Micheline Gillis testified that she heard her daughter's then-boyfriend, Mathieu Moreau, make that comment while their family was waiting in a hospital room on Jan. 11, 2020.
Tests were being done there on her grandson after he was brought to the hospital.
"[Moreau] came in and … what he said was, 'They better not pin this on me.' And those were his exact words," Gillis, 59, told Crown attorney Sarah Murdoch on Tuesday.
Moreau, who was in court for Tuesday's proceedings, is on trial before Court of King's Bench Justice Sadie Bond for manslaughter and aggravated assault in connection with the death of infant Maven Gillis Moreau.
The baby was put on life support and later died after being found unconscious while Moreau was watching him in their Winnipeg apartment.
Tuesday was the second day of the judge-alone trial against Moreau, 34, who has pleaded not guilty.
When asked Tuesday whether she had any concerns about Moreau as a parent, Gillis said one evening came to mind.
While he was leaving her home after dinner one night, she saw Moreau pick the baby up off the floor in his car seat in a way she described as "a bit abrupt, the way he carried it out the door."
"I saw that behaviour and I'm going like, 'What's that all about?' to myself," she said, adding that her daughter, 26-year-old Evelyn Gillis, then seemed "a bit more rushed than normal" to leave.
During cross-examination, defence lawyer Bruce Bonney said the baby's grandmother didn't mention that incident, or the comment at the hospital, during her interview with police, where she "only had good things to say" about Moreau, including that he was "such a pro at being a parent."
Bonney accused Gillis of deliberately trying to remember things that would cast Moreau in a negative light during the trial — including the car seat incident, a memory she said just resurfaced in recent weeks.
"Frankly ma'am, you were looking for things that you could think of that Mathieu did that made him look bad. Isn't that right?" he asked her.
"No, I was just thinking of how Maven has been taken care of," she said.
'His eyes were open, but unresponsive'
Other members of Gillis's family also testified on Tuesday, painting a picture of the frantic, chaotic night when the infant was taken to the hospital.
Brian Gillis, Micheline's husband, said he remembers getting an unexpected and brief phone call from Moreau just after 9 p.m. the night the baby was taken to hospital.
"He said, 'Maven is not doing very well. He's having trouble breathing," said Gillis, 67. "He started off calm, and then he got sort of really nervous."
Micheline Gillis said once her husband got off the phone, she called Moreau back. Moreau told her there was milk coming out of the infant's mouth and that he wasn't breathing, Micheline testified.
She said she told him to call an ambulance before she rushed over to the apartment with her son, Donovan — who said he remembered how "frightened" Moreau looked when he opened the door for them, still on the phone with 911.
Micheline started crying as she described walking into the apartment and seeing her grandson lying on his changing table while Moreau did chest compressions on him, as directed by the 911 operator.
"His eyes were open, but unresponsive. It was like he was looking at me, but he isn't responsive," she said.
Moreau's lawyer Kaitlynn Porath later pressed Brian Gillis about how he felt about the accused as a parent, pointing to a section of the statement he gave to police.
Porath said Brian told an officer he thought Moreau was good with the infant, and that he didn't think the father had any malice toward his child.
Evelyn Gillis told court on Monday that she and Moreau had been dating for just over a year at the time of her son's death, and the relationship ended after Moreau was arrested.
Moreau's trial, which continues Wednesday, is expected to last three weeks. It's anticipated court will also hear testimony from witnesses, including the first responders who treated Maven.
WATCH | Mother breaks down in tears Monday:
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