A 40-year-old woman has been charged with failing to provide the 'necessaries of life' in connection with the death of a 16-year-old girl at a Maple Ridge, B.C., home in 2008.
Paramedics found Shannon Dale Raymond's lifeless body at the home in the early hours of July 26, 2008.
There had been a party at the home that night.
"Shannon was in the care of the accused and was in medical distress, but this was not addressed," Ridge Meadows RCMP Supt. Dave Walsh said Friday.
Police are not disclosing details of how Shannon died.
The woman in charge of the party, Victoria Turley, no longer lives in Maple Ridge. She could not be reached on Friday.
Hurley was charged under what police say is a rarely used section of the Criminal Code -- Section 215: "Duties Tending to Preservation of Life."
The woman is scheduled to appear in a Port Coquitlam court Oct. 15. She faces a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Julie Raymond, Shannon's mother, told reporters Friday that parents need to be aware of who's in their home and to act if they sense something's wrong.
"If your gut is telling you something is wrong, it usually is," she said.
"As an adult, if I'm responsible for whatever juveniles come into my home, and if I have a sense that one of those children is unwell, I have a responsibility."
Choking back tears, the mother described her daughter as a confident girl.
"Yet, she was humble and grounded," she said.
Shannon was a "force to be reckoned with" on the soccer field, and she had an infectious laugh, her mother recalled.
Shannon was about to start Grade 12 at Westview Secondary School in Maple Ridge.
The family has been distributing purple wristbands with the phrase "Be true to yourself" on them to raise money for a school bursary in Shannon's name.
With a report from CTV British Columbia's Jina You.
