A decade after the passing of 15-month-old Nathaniel McLellan in Parkhill, the much-delayed manslaughter trial is set to take place in London, but not until next year. The accused, 42-year-old Meggin Van Hoof of Strathroy had been responsible for Nathaniel at her home daycare on the day he was hurried to the hospital. Nathaniel was found to have had a fracture in the back of his skull, and was declared brain-dead and removed from life support at the end of October 2015.
Initially, the OPP and Strathroy-Caradoc police had focused on Nathaniel’s parents as potential causes of his demise. The case gained attention through the Toronto Star’s podcast, “Death in a Small Town.,”
Geoff Snow, Van Hoof’s new lawyer, is set to challenge issues of “publicity” related to the podcast and other media coverage in addition to “admissibility” of Van Hoof’s statements to police and a Children’s Aid Society investigator in a series of pretrial motions scheduled to take place over ten days beginning in May of 2025.
The trial, where Van Hoof has opted for a judge and jury, is slated for four weeks starting on September 8th, 2025. Snow took on the case after the departure of Van Hoof’s previous lawyer, Jenny Prosser, citing a “breakdown” in the lawyer-client relationship. Prosser herself had replaced a prior attorney on the case.
Written by: myFM News