(Facebook)
It makes me physically ill to type this, but here it is:
Alleged child murderer Damien Christopher Starrett is set to be released on Monday on a paltry $1,000 bail.
In November, I covered the case of one-year-old Ares Bishop, who lost his life only one week after his first birthday. His father, Damien Starrett, allegedly got high, assaulted Ares’s then-4-year-old sister, and caused the death of poor little Ares.
To maintain the integrity of the investigation, the RCMP (Royal Canadian Mounted Police) has not released any further information about Ares’s cause of death.
I’m beside myself at the thought that this accused child murderer is being permitted to walk out of jail on bail that amounts to less than most people’s monthly rent. Not only is it an utter injustice and disgustingly disrespectful to Ares’s memory, but there is also the matter of the family’s safety to consider. How on earth will Ashton Bishop, Ares’s mother, and her no doubt traumatized daughter sleep at night knowing that the man who hurt the little girl and took away their sweet baby boy is walking the streets?
(Facebook)
All of my cases upset me, but I haven’t been this fired up in a while. As soon as I received this information from an anonymous source, I reached out to the Fort Saskatchewan RCMP detachment, where I spoke to a representative who said that unfortunately, the matter is out of their hands, but she did suggest a few other places I could contact. I then fired off messages to several people:
- Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau
- Alberta Premier Jason Kenney
- Canada Attorney General/Minister of Justice David Lametti
- Alberta Solicitor General/Minister of Justice Doug Schweitzer
- MLA for Fort Saskatchewan/Vegreville, Jackie Armstrong-Homeniuk
- Lisa Johnson, reporter for the Edmonton Journal
- CTV News
I don’t know if there’s anything we can do to prevent the alleged baby killer from being released on Monday, but I know it can’t hurt to try. Reportedly, the reason for this travesty is the potential spread of COVID-19 within the remand center (jail).
My sincere sympathy to Ashton and her daughter, who I hope are staying safe and healthy and will remain so.
Sources: Anonymous source, Facebook
[…] was tipped off about Damien’s impending release on Saturday and, on top of updating the blog, sent a flurry of emails, Facebook messages, and tweets to various media outlets and political […]