September 29, 2021
-CTV
CALGARY –
The Calgary man found guilty of beating his girlfriend’s three-year-old daughter to death will be sentenced Wednesday.
In March, Justin Paul Bennett, was found guilty of second-degree murder in the death of Ivy Wick, the daughter of his-then girlfriend Helen Wordsworth.
Ivy suffered blunt force trauma injuries on Sept. 27, 2017. She never regained consciousness and died in hospital eight days later.
Bennett had initially told the 911 operator and police that Ivy hit her head after she tripped and fell. He was arrested a year later in connection to the little girl’s death after an undercover police sting.
The Mr. Big operation generated key evidence submitted by the crown. Bennett admitted he beat Ivy after she interrupted his video game.
Undercover officers befriended him as part of a fictitious criminal organization. They told Bennett they could clear his name because they had access to a corrupt medical examiner who could make a fake report. But he had to be truthful about what happened to Ivy.
Bennett said he smashed Ivy in the head, threw her against the wall and tripped her while her mother was in the shower. A videotaped conversation between Bennett and undercover officers was submitted as evidence at trial.
A second-degree murder conviction carries a life sentence with no chance of parole between 10 and 25 years.
