'I sit at his grave': Regina mother of awaits outcome of trial where father is accused of killing their baby

Catlin Goodwill has to wait another month to hear the judge’s decision after closing arguments in his manslaughter trial concluded Monday morning.

Goodwill, 33, is charged with manslaughter in the death of his infant son in October 2017.

Jodeci Spencer, the baby’s mother, said it is heartbreaking to relive her son’s death every time she enters the courtroom.

“It’s hard,” Spencer said. “I’ve been grieving with this for so long and I just want to heal finally and be at peace.”

Spencer left Goodwill home alone with the baby the day he died. When she returned later that afternoon, Goodwill continued to take care of the boy while Spencer took care of herself and tended to their other son.

That evening, Goodwill found the three-month-old boy not breathing. Spencer called 911 and the baby was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Goodwill was arrested and charged with manslaughter two years later. Now, more than five years after the boy’s death, a judge has finished hearing the evidence in trial.

Autopsy results concluded the baby died from blunt force trauma to the head. Findings show the boy had a bruise on his scalp and “significant” bleeding around his brain.

Crown prosecutor Chris White argues Goodwill intentionally caused the injury sometime after the mother had returned home.

“We don’t need to prove why this happened, rather simply that it did,” White said.

The Crown called several witnesses to the stand during the week-long trial, including two pathologists and a pediatrician.

Both pathologists agreed “recent” blunt force trauma to the head was the cause of death. However, they could not narrow down an exact time or an exact cause of injury.

The doctors testified that the boy was too young to have been able to give the injury to himself, and the bleeding around the brain could not have naturally occurred.

White argued there is “scant evidence of an accident” and Goodwill had “exclusive” opportunity to harm the boy considering he was the only person to hold him that day.

“It is not an unexplained death. This isn’t a mystery,” White said.

“If there was an innocent explanation, we would have heard it. [Goodwill] didn’t give it because there is no innocent explanation.”

Goodwill did not testify during the trial. However, in a statement to police that was submitted as evidence, Goodwill could not provide a reason for his son’s injuries.

The defence argued the baby died from “natural causes.”

Defence counsel Bruce Campbell called only one expert witness to testify, neuropathologist Dr. Roland Auer.

Auer interpreted the autopsy findings at the request of Campbell and concluded the boy died from cardiorespiratory arrest caused by interstitial pneumonia.

Auer said the bruising and bleeding around the brain did not contribute to the death, and were likely caused by a condition that creates leaky blood vessels.

Auer said this type of “chronic, silent killer” pneumonia is often missed.

“We have shown that the child died of pneumonia … There is so much more than a reasonable doubt in this case,” Campbell said.

“If there is evidence that supports a different rational conclusion based on common sense then obviously [Goodwill] is entitled to presumption of innocence.”

The Crown asked the judge to give less weight to Dr. Auer’s testimony than the rest of the expert witnesses.

White argued Auer engaged in “confirmation bias,” which involves favouring or ignoring information that doesn’t align with a person’s beliefs.

Dr. Auer testified there is no evidence that supports Shaken Baby Syndrome (SBS) exists. Auer has researched and written about the topic extensively.

However, Crown expert witnesses testified that the baby’s head injuries could be consistent with SBS.

White argued that Dr. Auer was here to persuade the judge, not inform him.

The judge reserved his decision in the case until March 16.

Once the decision is made, Spencer said she and her family can finally begin to heal.

She has two other sons with Goodwill and said they’ve both been impacted by the trauma. However, she continues to remind her sons of their brother with pictures and stories, telling them “he’s watching over you guys.”

Spencer said she travels out to her son’s grave twice a year—on his birthday and on the day he died.

“Every time I go out there, I sit at his grave and I cry,” she said.

“I just break down into tears because I always wonder who he would have been [and] who he would have looked like.”