Kelly Ellard, who is serving a life sentence for killing 14-year-old Reena Virk in 1997, will have to prove she has earned a chance to live a normal life 鈥� she is not entitled to it.
But her child is.
Ellard, who was 15 when she beat and drowned the Saanich teenager, was sentenced to life in prison, and so has lived more in prison than out. Now she is eight months pregnant. The father is a man named Darwin Dorozan, who was out of prison on day parole when he was allowed intimate visits with Ellard. His parole has since been revoked.
During her trials and initial appearances before the parole board, Ellard claimed she did not kill Virk. This past May, nearly 19 years after the murder, she finally 鈥� and grudgingly 鈥� took responsibility for the killing, admitting that if it weren鈥檛 for her actions, Virk would still be alive. It wasn鈥檛 enough for the parole board 鈥� her application for parole was denied.
While the board emphasized the progress Ellard had made in accepting responsibility for the murder, member Ian MacKenzie said she came across as 鈥渧ery entitled鈥� in presenting her case for release.
鈥淚t鈥檚 not speaking from your heart,鈥� MacKenzie said. 鈥淚t鈥檚 speaking from what is most strategic and beneficial to you.鈥�
Ellard is not a person who attracts a lot of sympathy, nor should Dorozan, who is serving a seven-year sentence for a string of violent break and enters, and who served a previous sentence for his part in the kidnapping of a drug dealer, who was shot and killed.
But there should be compassion and concern for their child, and the most important thing a newborn needs is to be able to bond to his or her mother 鈥� to be held, to be breastfed, to be loved and nourished, physically and emotionally.
This is a child who will undoubtedly face a lifetime of challenges because of his or her parentage. Those challenges should not be exacerbated by being torn from his or her mother at birth, even if the mother is far from being the perfect maternal example.
Ellard and her infant are not likely to be tossed into a cell to fend for themselves. Correctional Service Canada has a mother-child program in which incarcerated mothers are given special rooms and support services.
Does Ellard deserve such treatment? That鈥檚 irrelevant 鈥� the aim of the program is the best interests of the child, and the program comes with conditions that safeguard the well-being of the child.
It would be hard to guess what kind of a mother Ellard will be, but motherhood can hugely alter a person, bringing fierce hormonal and emotional changes. Parenthood can awaken empathy and understanding. Perhaps Ellard, as she develops feelings for her own child, might come to see the pain she caused Virk鈥檚 family and others.
Prison should not dehumanize inmates, but work toward making them better humans. That the ideal is seldom achieved does not mean it should be abandoned. Ellard, as a mother, has an opportunity to be a better person.
Her next opportunity for a parole hearing is in February. The baby should not be used as a pawn in the parole-application deliberations, but perhaps by then Ellard will have become a little wiser, a little more humble. Perhaps she will find purpose.
Or perhaps not. In the end, it鈥檚 not about Ellard, it鈥檚 about what鈥檚 best for a child born in less-than-ideal circumstances, a child facing tremendous odds, but who deserves a chance at a reasonable life.
