This is a heartbreaking story that intersects aviation history, child welfare, and criminal justice. A Canadian mother has been sentenced to 10 years in prison after a judge found her responsible for the death of her five-year-old daughter, a girl who once captured the world’s attention when she was born aboard an Air Canada flight almost a decade ago.
Tragic Case: Mother Gets 10 Years After Death Of Girl Born On Plane
In a case that began with global headlines and has now ended in a sobering courtroom, Ada Guan was sentenced for manslaughter in the death of her daughter, Chloe Guan-Branch. Chloe first drew international attention in 2015 when she was born aboard an Air Canada flight from Calgary (YYC) to Tokyo (NRT) on Mother’s Day. That moment, initially shared around the world as a feel-good aviation story, has now been overshadowed by a profoundly tragic outcome.
Chloe died in May 2020 in Ottawa after suffering a ruptured bladder that went untreated for days. Medical testimony established that the injury led to acute uremia, a condition that causes severe pain, seizures, and ultimately death if not treated promptly. Evidence showed that in the days leading up to her death, Chloe was vomiting, unable to walk, and in obvious distress, yet she was never taken to a doctor or emergency room.
Why?
The trial painted a disturbing picture of neglect. Prosecutors presented evidence that Chloe had suffered physical abuse from the mother’s boyfriend prior to the bladder rupture and that her worsening condition was known to the adults responsible for her care. Text messages and witness testimony indicated repeated failures to seek medical help, even as the child’s condition deteriorated, over fear of exposing the abuse.
She died alone in her soiled bed on May 15, 2020, as her mother sat in another room watching TV.
In sentencing Guan to 10 years in prison, the judge emphasized the severity of the neglect and the complete dependence of the child on her caregivers. Ottawa Superior Court Justice Anne London-Weinstein said:
“In a case like this one, where a vulnerable child is essentially left to die … the sentence must reflect society’s response to this kind of malignant neglect by a parent of a child.”
While Canadian manslaughter sentences can vary widely, this seems like a very lenient sentence to me, especially considering Guan repeatedly missed her court dates.
In 2024, Cassie-Berube was found guilty of:
- manslaughter
- criminal negligence causing death
- failing to provide the necessaries of life
- assault causing bodily harm and assault
Even more egregiously, he was only handed a 14-year prison sentence. Guan’s reduced sentence is partially explained by her guilty plea bargain after her ex-boyfriend was found guilty…
Aviation Context
The aviation connection to this case is not legally relevant, but it is emotionally resonant. Chloe’s birth on an Air Canada flight brought her brief international recognition, illustrating how aviation occasionally intersects with extraordinary human moments. Years later, that same detail serves as a stark reminder that the headlines we celebrate can later become footnotes in much darker stories.
The case also raises broader questions about child welfare oversight. Chloe was removed from parental care earlier in life due to concerns about her safety and later returned to her mother’s custody. That decision, while not the subject of the criminal trial, has inevitably prompted renewed scrutiny of how vulnerable children are monitored once they are returned home…but that’s another issue for another blog.
CONCLUSION
The sentencing of a mother to 10 years in prison for the death of her daughter, a child once celebrated for being born on a plane, is a tragic and sobering reminder of the responsibilities that come with caregiving. A life that triumphantly began as an unusual aviation headline ended in horrific anguish, the opposite of jubilation. This is an extremely tragic case in so many ways.
Only 10 years for that extreme level of abuse and neglect? I’m sorry, but Canada sucks.
Really? Turning this horrifying tragedy into a Canada-bashing opportunity? I was gonna be disgusted with the neglect, but, now I’m more disappointed in you for trying to go-there. Canada is doing just fine.
Yes, absolutely really. This right here is an excellent example of the rottenness of our obnoxiously arrogant northern neighbor. Radical leftist policies that result in this kind of injustice. Not to mention how arrogant and nasty Canucks are for a people who make less than we do yet have to pay more in taxes than us. Free healthcare? Yes and it’s fine if you’re 18 and have strep throat. Fatal if you’re older and have cancer.
Not to mention that they’d have none of it were it not for US being their primary military defense. Efff Canada and their ungrateful, spoiled attitude.
I’mm’a need more context about you. What’s your background, and why are you promoting such hate on here? It would be helpful to understand why you have such views. Not that you’d ever admit to this, but are you a third-party foreign agent trying to stoke animosity between US and Canada? Kinda feels like it, man.
For instance, I’m an American, based in NYC; like most Americans, I am not in-favor of conflict with our neighbors, including Canada, who has done nothing wrong to us; in fact, most of us know that Canada has been a reliable strategic ally and trading partner for more than a century. I also admire Canada’s universal healthcare program, which, although not perfect, is far better than our lack of one in the US. Try getting cancer in the US, because, unless you’re a 10+ millionaire, you will likely be bankrupted, if you survive.
lol, yeah I’m in some covert agency. You’re like the liberal gift that keeps on coming.
I’ve been to Canada enough times over the years to watch it turn into a woke cesspit. Yet they openly criticize us. And it’s not new, they used to do the same decades ago. This story is so outrageous that I had to say something bc someone needs to tell the truth about the idiots up north.
I had a business trip (CIA stuff) visiting a manufacturing facility. They had a donation box – for the local hospital. I asked why. The answer was: because they can’t afford to buy blankets for patients. This was in Ontario! Son, spare me the crap about health care. This is why they’re encouraging suicide.
Sure, Jan. We believe you.
Rest in peace little angel. No one can hurt you again.
Amen.
Jeez man, thanks for bring my mood down. This is the worst thing I have read in a long time
Indeed, it’s really grim.
Then, definitely don’t look up the case of the Cleveland-area woman who left her 16mo at home so she could go on vacation for 10 days with her boyfriend (not baby daddy). Her 7yo was with the perpetrator’s parents (parents thought the perpetrator was at home with 16mo). At least, she got a life sentence.
The sentences shock Americans, but are of no surprise to readers elsewhere. Fourteen years is a long time in prison. In many countries a non-aggravated murder will land you a non-parole period of just a little more than that. Of course release on parole is never guaranteed.
I’m shocked that there are people in a developed country who have been conditioned to look at those sentences as lenient. The prison-industrial complex has been doing great work by the looks of it!
Came here to say this. Max prison sentence for voluntary manslaughter (i.e. homicide with intent) is around the 20-year mark around the globe. Aggravated murder is around 30 years. Where there is negligence rather than homicidal intent, sentences are (obviously) reduced.
10 Years is totally not enough
Hay I’m from Canada and would like to add to this story, I was shock to here that she only got 10 years but even more shocked the one who did the physical abuse only got 15 years. Now I had to put myself in her shoes for a moment… SHE had a child on a plane, and she did not know she was pregnant, YES she did not know… she had Zero time to choose to be a mother, or decide to terminate or give up to adoption… She lands cameras reporters and interview after interview and under watch of most of the world watching everything you do, the hate mail, the your doing this and that wrong… holly crap I would of lost my mind , and she did and gave her child to a family to raise, until she was forced to have this child that never knew her back that she never asked for. So yes she got 10 years but I think she truly never really meant to do this, I think she just checked out and unless she get mental help which should of been part of the sentence.
Now fast forward to when she gets out, she will never be able to work anywhere there are children, NOW what she will still be on the governments pay roll, and what if she get pregnant again do you really think she will be able to even keep this child…. she may have only gotten 10 years but she will live with all this for life… however the boyfriend will be out in 8-10 years and he can have children and no one will remember or care.
she deserved what she got.
M