By Adriana Christianson

Mother testifies at Regina toddler’s murder trial

Jan 16, 2015 | 5:57 AM

Natalia Shingoose’s mother choked back tears while testifying Thursday at the trial of the man accused of killing the little girl.

Natalia was just 38 days shy of her third birthday when she was found dead in her home on Garnet Street on the morning of June 21, 2012. Adam Cyr is on trial facing second-degree murder charges this week in Regina.

On Thursday, Natalia’s mother Amanda Trevors took the stand to tell a packed courtroom the details about the last day her daughter was alive. Her voice trembled as she described Natalia as a loving little girl who loved to talk. She had a rambunctious side and liked to climb on things.

Cyr was Trevors’ live-in boyfriend at the time and would sometimes offer to look after her two kids when their father or her other friends were busy. She told the court that he seemed to be good with them and she never had any second thoughts about leaving him to babysit until that day in June.

Trevors was in tears describing the night she left her kids in Cyr’s care on June 20, 2012. She says when she came home from working an evening shift, she briefly looked into her daughter’s bedroom. Natalia was sleeping in the bed under a blanket, so she turned on the TV and closed the door.

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At 3 a.m., a close friend of Trevors ran into the house waking her up to tell her the front door was open. Glancing into the little girl’s bedroom she thought her daughter was fine.  The next morning she discovered the truth when her normal early morning wake up call never came from her daughter’s bedroom. Instead Natalia was quiet, cold and stiff. After alling 911 Trevors tried CPR but by then her baby was already gone.

When asked if she checked on her closely, Trevors broke into tears saying “no, I wish I would have.”

After a long day of testifying, Trevors broke down when she saw pictures of her daughter’s body at the crime scene. She sobbed and shouted “you’re a bastard” at Cyr, who was across the room in the prisoners box.

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