Nine years after she killed her daughter, former Barrie resident Lisa Batstone has died while serving a life sentence at a prison in British Columbia.
No cause of death or further details have been released except that Batstone died on Monday, Jan. 1 and that an investigation is underway.
Eight-year-old Teagan Batstone died after her mother smothered her as she slept on Dec. 10, 2014.
“(Lisa’s death) brings no cause for mourning,” Teagan’s father, Gabe Batstone, said in a statement on Wednesday. “Her death does not erase the pain and loss of Teagan, whose absence is felt every day.”
Batstone was convicted of second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 15 years.
The 50-year-old had been in prison since Teagan was found dead in the trunk of Lisa’s car in Surrey, a Vancouver suburb, where she had been living for several years with her daughter.
After killing Teagan, her mother attempted suicide, but could not follow through.
She was found hours later after driving her car into a ditch. It was while attending the scene that local police found the young girl’s body in the car’s trunk.
Lisa Batstone, then known as Lisa Hamilton, moved to Barrie from Halton Region in her early teenage years. She graduated from Eastview Secondary School in 1992.
Gabe Batstone, a Barrie native, graduated from St. Joseph’s Catholic High School in the early 1990s before attending Ryerson University, where he played defence for the men’s varsity hockey team. Before attending Ryerson, now known as Metropolitan University, he played for the Collingwood Blues.
The former couple met in Barrie and Teagan was born in 2006.
Upon divorcing, Lisa Batstone was granted custody and remained in B.C., while Gabe Batstone retained visitation rights while attempting to gain more control over Teagan’s upbringing.
Teagan’s subsequent death came two years after her mother had attempted suicide, but managed to retain custody of their daughter, who had been temporarily living with her father.
A B.C. judge found Lisa Batstone guilty of second-degree murder in 2019, rejecting her defence lawyer’s argument that mental health defects led to her killing her daughter.
In handing down her verdict, B.C. Superior Court Justice Catherine Murray said that the evidence clearly showed Lisa Batstone harmed her daughter out of spite toward the girl’s father, her ex-husband.
Appeals of both the verdict and the sentence were rejected.
Remarried with two additional children, Gabe Batstone, 52, now lives in Ottawa, where he was residing when his daughter was murdered.
After Teagan’s death, Gabe Batstone set up an organization called Teagan’s Voice, which is designed to draw attention to her short life and bring about changes to better protect children. It was through Teagan’s Voice and its social media channels that Gabe Batstone communicated his statement on Wednesday.
Batstone has vowed to continue that work, but took some comfort in what his ex-wife’s death meant moving forward.
“A significant burden has been lifted. We no longer face the daunting prospect of her potential release, an event that would have posed an undeniable risk to other innocent children,” he said in the statement. “The safety of our family and community from a convicted child murderer is now assured, bringing a substantial relief amidst our enduring grief.”
