Dad guilty of manslaughter in 2016 baby death

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This article was published 12/06/2025 (287 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 34-year-old Sioux Valley man has been found guilty of killing his infant daughter in 2016.

Keifer Mecas pleaded not guilty to manslaughter in the death of 11-week-old Haelin Taylor and was the subject of a weeklong, judge-only trial in Brandon in April.

Court of King’s Bench Justice Scott Abel handed down his decision on June 4, saying Mecas caused the death of the baby with force that was “significant” and beyond the normal handling of an infant.

“The accused is convicted of the sole count on the indictment being manslaughter, having unlawfully killed Haelin Taylor,” Abel told court.

“I have determined that the cause of death was the application of significant force and an acceleration, deceleration event.”

During his trial, Mecas testified he alone was watching the baby at a home in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation on Jan. 4, 2016 when he noticed “she wasn’t breathing.”

The baby was rushed to Brandon Regional Health Centre and then transported to Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, where she died on Jan. 23, 2016.

Both parents were questioned by RCMP, and the baby’s death was ruled a homicide. Her cause of death was hypoxic ischemic brain damage due to traumatic brain injury, which means she suffered severe injuries to her brain, eyes and spinal cord.

Mecas was charged seven years later after witnesses — including the baby’s mother, Kara Taylor — came forward in 2022 alleging he had confessed to harming Haelin, saying on one occasion to Taylor and her cousin, “I did it, I hurt her.”

When Mecas was questioned in 2023, he denied making that comment, telling police he had no idea what “they were referring to.”

Mecas’s trial began on April 16 and lasted a week.

During his oral decision, Justice Abel summarized the case, which he said relied on circumstantial evidence and testimony from two medical examiners and other witnesses.

In 2018, Mecas made statements to Taylor that the night before Haelin stopped breathing he observed vomit coming out of her mouth, and in the morning she “started choking.”

Court also heard that Mecas attempted to explain his daughter’s injuries to police, suggesting he was trying to do cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) by doing light compressions on her chest and blowing through her nose.

Abel rejected Mecas’s account, citing the testimony of two medical experts who conducted the autopsy and testified during the trial, pathologist Dr. Charles Littman and neuropathologist Dr. Marc Del Bigio.

“Even if I were to accept that Haelin stopped breathing first and the accused shook Haelin in an effort to revive her,” Abel said, “that explanation still does not create a reasonable doubt regarding cause of death.

“Dr. Littman and Dr. Del Bigio both testified about the nature and extent of the injury suffered by Haelin to her brain, eyes and spinal cord. Those injuries were caused by the application of significant force, force beyond the ordinary handling of a child.”

Abel also pointed out that a doctor had examined Haelin one month before she died and confirmed she was a healthy baby at the time.

“No concerns were noted regarding Haelin’s health. She was pink and alert, no heart murmurs were observed, her chest was clear,” Abel said.

“The injuries were not progressive, but rather were caused at the same time, a time when the accused was the only adult in the residence with Haelin.”

No date was set for Mecas’s sentence.

Abel requested a Gladue report, described as a specialized type of pre-sentencing report. It contains background information on the history of an Indigenous person, their family and community, in order to take the individual’s unique circumstances and challenges into consideration.

The deadline for the report to be completed and sent to Abel is July 16.

» mmcdougall@brandonsun.com

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