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in si de ha lto n. co m O ak vi lle B ea ve r | T hu rs da y, A ug us t 22 ,2 01 9 | 10 A 43-year-old Oakville woman who allowed her 9-year-old daughter to starve to death will serve just one additional day in custody. Meredith Lis was sentenced to time served and three years of probation during a Burlington court hearing on Friday, Aug. 16. The one-day sentence, which was handed down by Justice Les- ley Baldwin, takes Lis's 276 days of pretrial custody and the condi- tions of her incarceration into consideration. Lis was charged with failure to provide the necessities of life af- ter her daughter, Kaylie Lis-La- lande, was found dead in an Oak- ville apartment on Sept. 4, 2017. The court heard that Kaylie had cerebral palsy, which pre- vented her from walking, talking or feeding herself. At the time of her death, Kay- lie was in Lis's custody. An autopsy determined Kaylie weighed just 31 pounds, and her death was the result of complica- tions of dehydration and malnu- trition. "This case is a pure tragedy all around. There are no black or white lines as various family members have tried to portray," said Baldwin. "There is only dense grey smoke." During the sentencing, wit- ness testimony painted two dras- tically different pictures of Lis. One of Kaylie's siblings said Lis had been neglecting her role as a parent for years. This youth said, at age 12, she was doing most of care for Kaylie and her younger brother, noting Lis would leave the apartment for hours at a time. Lis's eldest daughter, however, said Kaylie and Lis were best friends and that Lis fought to make sure all of Kaylie's needs were met. She said that in addition to Lis looking after Kaylie and her oth- er children on her own, she also cared for her mother, who had de- mentia for more than 12 years. The maximum penalty for fail- ing to provide the necessities of life is five years in prison. Assistant Crown Attorney Monica MacKenzie called for a sentence of four years minus pre- trial custody, noting Kaylie's death represents a significant breach of trust. "Like an infant, Kaylie was to- tally dependent on Ms. Lis for her care," said MacKenzie. She also noted this was not a one-time mis- take; rather, Kaylie was allowed to deteriorate over a period of time. The Crown pointed out Lis failed to follow recommendations made by a doctor after Kaylie was hospitalized for dehydration in 2016. She also pointed out that when Lis left her children with a friend on Sept. 4, 2017, so she could smoke marijuana at another friend's house, she failed to notice Kaylie was already dead. Lis's lawyer, Sarah Lawson, said two-and-a-half years in cus- tody, minus a one-year pre-sen- tence custody credit and proba- tion would be a more appropriate sentence. She said mitigating factors in- clude the Oakville woman's guilty plea and her lack of a prior criminal record. Lawson said Lis was overwhelmed and shows re- morse for her actions. Ultimately, Baldwin found the sentences sought by both the Crown and the defence were too high. "This is not a worst-case of- fender, even though the victim was the most fragile of victims," said Baldwin. "Kaylie had been sick for most of her life. Meredith took good care of her for most of her life. The total failure period, as I cal- culate it to be, is 17 days out of this child's nine years." The sentence had a devastat- ing impact on several members of Kaylie's family who were present, many of whom could be seen holding each other and wiping away tears. "That's brutal. She's out to- morrow," said Marty Lalande, Kaylie's father. "This outcome is terrible ... I'm pretty pissed off at our justice system. Getting that type of sen- tence after all the facts that were put forward is bull ..." During the hearing, Lis re- ceived additional one-day sen- tences after pleading guilty to a pair of drug possession charges and a charge for failure to appear in court. The one-day sentences will be served concurrently. Baldwin had strong words in her decision for the Children's Aid Society, pointing out that the organization was supposed to see Kaylie at least every 30 days, but at the time of her death they had not been to her home in three months. "Despite knowing Kaylie's medically fragile condition, and being told directly by Meredith and Kaylie's school that Meredith was struggling, the children's aid worker allowed Meredith to can- cel five appointments," said Bal- dwin. "These cancelled visits should have been alert signs that all was not going well with Meredith and Kaylie. On two occasions, Mere- dith cancelled, reporting that Kaylie was sick. What more infor- mation could the children's aid have possibly needed to take ac- tion in this obvious crisis?" Baldwin said the children's aid had a responsibility to see Kaylie and had the authority to take her to a hospital for medical care if re- quired. "They failed to act upon their mandate in this tragic case," said Baldwin. NEWS WOMAN SENTENCED TO TIME SERVED AFTER CHILD STARVES Kaylie Lis-Lalande was found dead in an Oakville apartment on Sept. 4, 2017. Lalande family photo JUDGE BLASTS CHILDREN'S AID SOCIETY FOR FAILING TO ACT DAVID LEA dlea@metroland.com