Northern Ontario couple charged in their baby girl's 2022 death

A northern Ontario couple has been charged in the death of their three-month-old baby girl who was found in September 2022 with no vital signs.

Jeffrey and Michelle Doonan of King Kirkland are charged in the death of their three-month-old baby girl on Sept. 3, 2024. (Oct. 22, 2019)

Jeffrey Doonan, 32, was charged Tuesday with second-degree murder in the case.

He and his wife, 33-year-old Michelle Doonan, are also charged with criminal negligence causing death and failing to provide necessaries of life, Ontario Provincial Police said in an update Wednesday.

The allegations against the mother allegedly occured between May 16 and Sept. 3, 2022, court documents obtained by CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca show.

The couple is from King Kirkland, a community about six kilometres east of Kirkland Lake.

OPP officers from the Temiskaming detachment were called to help paramedics at a home on Chamberlain Road 5 in Chamberlain Township around 4 p.m. Sept. 3, 2022.

The baby, who police confirmed was female, was taken to hospital with no vital signs and later pronounced dead.

Michelle and Jeffrey Doonan's three-month-old daughter Violet was found at a home with no vital signs on Sept. 3, 2022.

No word on the cause of death.

"That’s for the coroner to speak on, not police," OPP Const. Phil Young told CTVNewsNorthernOntario.ca in an email. 

CTV News has reached out to the coroner's office asking it to confirm the infant's cause of death and is awaiting a reply.

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"A thorough investigation was conducted by the Temiskaming OPP crime unit under the direction of the OPP criminal investigation branch, with assistance from the OPP northeast region support team and OPP forensic identification services, in conjunction with the Office of the Chief Coroner and Ontario Forensic Pathology Service," police said.

The couple remains in custody and is scheduled to appear in court in Haileybury on Nov. 13.

"Anyone with any information relating to this investigation is asked to call the Temiskaming OPP at 1-888-310-1122," police said.

"Should you wish to remain anonymous, contact Crime Stoppers at 1-800-222-TIPS (8477) or ontariocrimestoppers.ca, where you may be eligible to receive a cash reward of up to $2,000."

The charges have not been proven in court.