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Parents sentenced after 2020 death of nine month old

June 12, 2023

The parents of a nine-month old who died in a Mooretown home have been sentenced – one to prison and one to house arrest.

Nov. 20, 2020 OPP officers and emergency medical services were called to a house on Penrise Street in Mooretown. Nine month-old Tressa MacPherson, daughter of the pair, was found unresponsive and passed away that day.

The OPP Criminal Investigation Branch conducted the investigation which resulted in Tressa’s parents being arrested nearly 10 months later.

Brock MacPherson, 31 of St. Clair and Elizabeth McPhail, 32 of Sarnia, were arrested charged with manslaughter at the time.

The manslaughter charges were later dropped when forensic testing found the baby had high levels of fentanyl in her stomach although testing couldn’t determine if she had ingested the substance or inhaled it.

June 5, MacPherson plead guilty to criminal negligence causing death and was sentenced to two years in prison and is hoping to access drug rehab programs while there. He’ll also be on probation for two years once his sentence is served.

McPhail plead guilty to failing to providing the necessaries of life and has been given a two year conditional sentence and will be on probation for one year.

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