Mom said daughter was doing fine, even after her death

An inquiry into the death of five-year-old Phoenix Sinclair heard that before she was killed, her mother forced her to belittle herself.

WINNIPEG -- An inquiry into the death of a Manitoba girl has heard that the child's mother told social workers her daughter was doing fine even after she had killed the five-year-old.

The inquiry is examining the June 2005 death of Phoenix Sinclair, which went undetected for nine months.

A hospital social worker told the inquiry yesterday that Samantha Kematch told her Phoenix was fine in the fall of 2005.

The worker says she noted in her report that Phoenix was alive and well.

In reality, Kematch and her boyfriend had brutally murdered the little girl months before.

The worker says Kematch's demeanour was the same as it had been in meetings the previous year.