For a guy apparently desperate to prove his innocence, Damien Starrett sure is making himself look like an asshole.

Damien was arrested on Saturday, November 23, 2019 in Fort Saskatchewan, Alberta by the Royal Canadian Mounted Police on suspicion of second-degree murder and assault. This occurred after his one-year-old son, Ares Bishop, who had just celebrated his first birthday on November 16, died at a local hospital from serious injuries. Damien’s five-year-old daughter was also injured, hence Damien’s assault charge, but fortunately, she survived, and her injuries were not life-threatening. I can’t imagine how traumatized she is from the experience, though.

According to a Facebook comment in November by Damien’s grandfather, Robert Hessie, “Damien got addicted to a drug he got high and killed Ares and assaulted [his daughter] and is charged with second-degree murder and assault what do you do with that…”

In April of this year, shocking pretty much everyone, Damien was released from jail on $1,000 bail, likely hurried along by the potential threat of COVID-19 infection among the jail population. Residents of Fort Saskatchewan protested Damien’s release outside the home of his grandparents, where he was reported to be staying.

Damien’s ex-girlfriend and the mother of his two children, Ashton Bishop, still lives in Fort Saskatchewan, along with the daughter Damien is accused of assaulting.

There has been no movement in the legal case against Damien since he was released from jail; the charges against him still stand. His next court date is reportedly on August 6. The only reason I’m writing about this case right now is because I received an influx of messages over the weekend from concerned readers about Damien’s behavior, especially his recent Facebook activity. (For the record, any spelling, grammar, or punctuation mistakes in the quotes from his ramblings are not mine.)

For one thing, over a period of three days in June, Damien posted well over 600 photos and dozens of videos of his children and ex-girlfriend on Facebook in an album he titled, “Never give up on your family.” 

For another, recently, Damien has been trashing Ashton for what he calls “monetizing over my dead 1 year old son.” (He conveniently didn’t mention that he is the one accused of killing the child.) A few days ago, he commented on the subject, “May they feel fucking ashamed of themselves. Hasn’t Ashton and her family made enough money. Greed is a powerful sin and doesn’t go unpunished.. I’m kinda curious if people care that she’s spending it on bullshit and not what it is intended for. But what do I care it’s not me that has to answer to that question and personally I could care less.”

(Clearly, because he’s posting about it on Facebook.)

He continued, “That’s blood money. I’ve never seen such a display of hatred. It disgusts me to my core.”

Damien went on to defend his prior criminal convictions, saying he fought with “a woman beating drug addict pedophile” and qualifying that statement by adding that “allot of people said I did a service.” After making excuses for a few other minor crimes, he said, “I haven’t been in trouble since then I even went and got pardoned by the Canadian government for those stupid crimes. As of Jan 1st I will have no criminal record.”

(That, of course, depends on whether or not he’s found guilty of, y’know, murder.)

Apparently, Damien blames his ex-girlfriend for what he deems “misinformation” floating around about him, and the way he’s running his mouth online about her makes my skin crawl, including, “Ashton is there only source of information and when they find out how mislead the have been I hope she has the best explanation in the world because nothing can save her from the truth. It’s only impending doom.”

Hey, cupcake? It’s probably not a great idea to wish “impending doom” upon the mother of a child you’re charged with murdering. That could explain why his comments have since been deleted, but maybe he forgot that screenshots are a thing, and anything he says on the internet could easily come back to bite him in the ass.

He’s also made a new hobby out of mocking the citizens who continue protesting his presence in the Fort Saskatchewan community. On July 30, I was told, Damien posted two pictures in the front window of his grandparents’ house, captioned: Alien vs. Predator. During these protests, both Damien and his father have come out of the house to taunt the protesters, including repeatedly calling an elderly woman a “slut.”

Keeping it classy, huh?

At one point, Damien’s grandfather, Bob, was overheard by protesters saying, “Do you know who Damien is? He will kill you.”

Also on July 30, Damien posted a photo of the courthouse in Fort Saskatchewan, evidently mocking the fact that people were protesting on a day when he didn’t have a court date. I’m just going to post the screenshots, because there is way too much rambling and circular logic to retype it all. It all amounts to one thing: he’s making himself look really bad, and never once has he expressed a shred of remorse, which just makes it worse.

Warning: extreme douchebaggery ahead.

Some people tell me Damien has attempted to blame the assault of his daughter and the murder of his son on sleeping pills, saying he does not remember what happened. More recently, it appears he plans to pin the blame on antidepressants he was taking. On July 15, he posted a link to a YouTube video titled, “Dangerous Antidepressant Side Effects Drug Companies Don’t Want You to Know About!” 

In the same deleted comment thread where he ranted about Ashton supposedly “monetizing” the death of little Ares, Damien said, “Mental health destroyed my life and took everything from me. I will not be beaten down and I will not stop. Nothing can stop me . I’m fighting for a much higher purpose.” 

Hey, fella — could you aim for a little less ominous next time?

On August 1, Damien posted screenshots of what appear to be a Wikipedia article about the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms, in particular the section titled Justification for detention in custody. I’m guessing he’s trying to prove to dissenters that there’s no legal reason for him to be in jail right now. I don’t know, though… there’s a segment in there that some could argue:

“(10) For the purposes of this section, the detention of an accused in custody is justified only on one or more of the following grounds…

…(b) where the detention is necessary for the protection or safety of the public, including any victim of or witness to the offence, or any person under the age of 18 years, having regard to all the circumstances including any substantial likelihood that the accused will, if released from custody, commit a criminal offence or interfere with the administration of justice…”

Considering how threatened, traumatized, and terrified I’ve been told Ashton and her daughter feel with the alleged murderer of baby Ares on the loose, that part stands out a bit, huh?

At this point, it seems like it would be smart for this accused murderer to keep a low profile, stay off Facebook, and shut his mouth, but hey, he’s the one with the Wikipedia link to Canada’s Charter of Rights and Freedoms, so what do I know?

One thing I do wonder is if Damien’s defense attorney is aware of what he’s been up to… not to mention the Crown Attorney prosecuting his case.

Click here for my ongoing coverage of Ares’ case.

Sources: Facebook, anonymous sources