Jordan Desmond Heikamp
May 19, 1999 - June 23, 1997

Angie Martin was the caseworker assigned to Renee and Jordan. Renee would
tell Angie that Jordan was gaining weight and doing fine, it was a lie. Why is it
that Angie wasn't there to SEE what was going on?

Workers at the shelter claimed that Renee was more interested in talking on
the phone than in being a mother to Jordan. They called Angie and made her
aware of what was going on.

Renee said that she was feeding Jordan every two to four hours and that he
ate like a pig, when she was interviewed by police after he died, she would say that it was hard to feed him because he was always falling asleep while eating and that he slept for up to eight hours at a time. This statement didn't make
sense to the people at the shelter:

Pictures that were shown at trial were of a baby who was nothing but skin and
bones. Jordan's skeleton could be seen from the outside with a little bit of skin
hanging off of it. The coroner asked Renee why it was that her soon looked like he did and she did nothing to help him. Renee started crying and insisted that it was not how he looked before he died or she would have taken him to the hospital. A pediatrician testified that the pictures showed how Jordan would have looked in the last two or three days of his life. Renee also said that
there were no signs of Jordan was starving to death before he died. 

Renee said that the staff at the shelter had told her that babies grew while they
were sleeping and she should not wake him up to feed him. Stating that she 
was happy with the shelter when she first arrived, she later felt that she was
being ignored and that they didn't want her there, she felt uncomfortable after
being there for awhile. 

Angie Martin only saw Jordan twice after being assigned as their case worker.
She saw him once after he left the hospital and once, two weeks before his
death. Angie chose to hold interviews with Renee in her office and at one
point even suggested to her that she get a baby sitter to watch Jordan while 
she attended the interviews. When she saw Jordan, Angie wrote in her notes
that it didn't seem he was gaining weight, however, she didn't act on this. 
Angie claimed to be overwork, saying she had 38 cases. A review of her files
would later show that most of those cases were either closed or inactive. One of the saddest revelations is that if Renee and Jordan had been living in a place of their own, she would probably have had more visits from Angie. Angie had assumed that the shelter was monitoring Jordan's progress though legally he was the responsibility of her and the Catholic Children's Aid Society. 

When asked why she had lied to Angie Martin about his weight gain, Renee said that a lack of education on her part was partly to blame for Jordan's death, just she didn't know how sick he really was. Placing part of the blame on Angie Martin, she said that there was a lack of assistance and she should have taken more responsibility. She would later say that she realized it was hard on Angie Martin because she made it difficult for her to give her the help she needed.

Renee  Heikamp and Angie Martin were charged with criminal negligence 
resulting in death. In 1998 after the preliminary hearing which lasted 13 days,
Madam Justice Mary Hogan of the Ontario Court Of Justice ruled that Jordan's
case would not go to trial due to lack of evidence. Mary Hogan ruled that the
evidence of wanton reckless disregard for the life of and safety of another 
person by either Renee or Angie, was not proven. The judge also ruled that
death of Jordan was a terrible tragedy which could have been prevented:

Crown counsel Paul Culver felt that Judge Hogan had made a mistake and that
if she had then a preliminary hearing as she should have, she could have made the findings credible:

However, he felt that a trial of that nature could taken three years to actually
happen. They could not force Renee to testify and if she did, the jury might 
not find her guilty since she was a teenage mother and if she were to be 
convicted, how much time would she receive? He also felt that the jury would
be unwilling to convict a middle aged case worker. Paul Culver decided that
an inquest was needed.

A coroners inquest is presided over by a medical doctor and is much like a 
trial since witnesses are called, though nothing they say can be used against
them. The jury does not find blame in what has happened, they are only able
to make recommendations to improve the system.

In April 2001, a four month investigation was concluded and a coroner's
inquest ruled the death of Jordan to be a homicide and recommended changes
be made to the child protection system to prevent deaths of children in the 
future. Implicated in the recommendations were the entire child protection
system including the Catholic Children's Aid Society, homeless shelters, public
health departments, hospitals and the Ministry Of Community And Social
Services.

The Ontario coroner's office made 44 recommendations for changes to protect children, including the following:

That child protection workers realize that their client is the child in need of protection, not the parent.

That children's aid workers hold weekly face-to-face home visits with children under four months.

That child protection workers be made aware that some young people in the shelter system have become adept at lying and manipulation.

That shelter staff offer help without being asked.

That shelter workers be educated to recognize the signs of when a baby is not thriving.

That the time for children's aid workers to assess the risks of newborns be shortened to seven days from 21. 

That there be an increase in funding to supervising agencies.

That new prenatal programs be establish for teens and homeless mothers.

When the verdict was read, Renee cried. She said that the recommendations
proved she was not solely responsible for the death of Jordan: