No bail for mother in baby death

A judge has refused to grant bail to a 19-year-old woman charged with obstructing justice just as she was set to be tried for manslaughter in the death of her three-week-old baby.

In June 2010 the woman, who was 17 at the time, was with her mother on the balcony of their home in Saint-Barnabé-Sud, near Saint-Hyacinthe.

That's when one of the family's dogs, a husky, attacked and killed the teenager's 21-day-old daughter. The baby was left strapped in a car seat in the kitchen while the two women were smoking outside.

Both women were arrested, and the baby's mother was charged with manslaughter. The baby's grandmother was later released after the Crown decided there was not enough evidence to press charges.

The 19-year-old woman's trial was set to begin this week, but prosecutors revealed that she was arrested once again last week and charged with obstruction of justice after she allegedly attempted to influence her mother's testimony leading up to the trial.

The identities of the accused and her family are protected because the 19-year-old was a minor at the time of the incident.