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Toronto Star

16 Jun, 11 tweets, 6 min read

@_kevindonovan

STAR INVESTIGATION: A healthy toddler. A mysterious injury. And a case that had doctors and police pointing fingers at his parents. The first of five parts in a Star Investigative series with @_kevindonovan

#DeathInASmallTown
thestar.com/news/investiga…

Part 1: Just Another Day

In 2015, in the small Ontario town of Strathroy, a teacher gets a call. Something's wrong with her 15-month-old son. The babysitter said he collapsed. The mysterious injury turns all eyes to his parents
thestar.com/news/investiga…

"A child in her left arm, drooped forward. I remember that vividly because I thought... how could she be holding that child like that?" Strathroy resident Al Azevedo recalls seeing toddler Nathaniel McLellan shortly before he arrived at the hospital.
thestar.com/news/investiga…

Part 2: Suspicion

As toddler Nathaniel clung to life, doctors were confused about the injuries. Others at the hospital found the parents’ behaviour odd. Suspicion grew as police searched the family's home and questioned the three other kids.
thestar.com/news/investiga…

Back at the McLellan home, neighbour Kathy Webster, who cleaned their place, was asked by police to leave so they could search the home — without a warrant. She also recalls hearing from the boy's grandfather that Nathaniel likely wouldn't make it.

thestar.com/news/investiga…

Part 3: The Case

Nathaniel didn't make it. The McLellan parents were interrogated by police separately. They told police their son had been bumped by a backroom door but seemed fine. Police asked if their son fell down their steep stairs. thestar.com/news/investiga…

“In my interview I said, I opened the door and it ruined my life,” mother Rose-Anne McLellan recalls to the Star. Police seemed convinced she was responsible. Frustrated, the McLellan family wonders if police have tunnel vision in the investigation.

thestar.com/news/investiga…

Part 4: Mom Fights Back

Did police properly investigate? Could a small bump be the cause of her son's collapse? Rose-Anne takes matters into her own hands. What she found raised questions about the probe.
thestar.com/news/investiga…

As working parents of four, the busy family cobbled together childcare. On Tuesdays and Thursdays, a babysitter watched Nathaniel. He was in their her care the day he went to hospital.

thestar.com/news/investiga…

Part 5: Wrong turns

In the five years since Nathaniel died, his parents have battled police secrecy, made astounding discoveries, and gone down more than a few rabbit holes. They remain on a quest for answers. Who was responsible for their son’s death? thestar.com/news/investiga…

@_kevindonovan

What happened to Nathaniel McLellan?

Read the five-part series, #DeathInASmallTown, by @_kevindonovan here:

thestar.com/news/investiga…

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