The psychiatrist for a 12-year-old boy who was in the care of two Burlington, Ont., women has testified she urged the couple to take him to the emergency room multiple times before his death in 2022, but they refused.

The boy’s health was worsening and he wasn’t eating, Dr. Shelinderjit Dhaliwal told the weeks-long murder trial for Brandy Cooney and Becky Hamber in Milton.

“If the family brought him to the emergency department, we wouldn’t be going through this and the boy would be alive,” Dhaliwal said in the witness box.

Cooney and Hamber are charged with, and have pleaded not guilty to, first-degree murder of the boy they were trying to adopt. He is referred to as L.L. in court as his identity is under a publication ban to protect the name of his younger brother, known as J.L.

Docto

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