Jeffrey Baldwin’s mother testifies

The mother of a five year old Toronto boy who died of starvation while in the care of his grandparents is testifying today at the inquest into his death.

Yvonne Kidman and Richard Baldwin lost custody of Jeffrey to Kidman’s parents in 1998. When Jeffrey died of complications of chronic starvation in 2002, he weighed just 21 pounds, about the same as he did on his first birthday.

His grandparents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, were ultimately convicted of second-degree murder in his death and are serving life sentences.

Yvonne Kidman says she was kicked out of her parents’ home when she was 16 and had her first child, Jeffrey’s oldest sibling, when she was 17. She says the Catholic Children’s Aid Society suggested her parents care for the baby for a while, but a few months later her mother asked the court for permanent custody.