HALIFAX - A public health nurse testifying at the trial of a Halifax man accused in the death of his baby daughter says the infant's parents did not understand what the baby needed to survive.
Carmel McGinnis told Nova Scotia Supreme Court the three-day-old had no name, no clothes and no health supplies -- aside from diapers -- when the family met the nurse at their apartment.
McGinnis said the girl's father, Ashiqur Rahman, was anxious and frustrated because it was taking so long for the child to eat.
But the nurse said the baby seemed healthy and vigorous at the time.
The parents were arrested July 24, 2009, after staff at the IWK Health Centre reported a case of child abuse.
Seven-week-old Aurora Breakthrough died three days later.
Rahman has pleaded not guilty to manslaughter and aggravated assault.
The baby's mother, Jane Elizabeth Gomes, pleaded guilty in April to failing to provide the necessities of life and received a conditional discharge with six months of probation.
