Lynn Lau
Northern News Services

Holman (Nov 25/02) - Police have decided not to lay criminal charges in the case of a baby who froze to death outside her Holman home March 1.

Holman RCMP issued a news release Friday stating that police and Crown prosecutors had reviewed the case, and concluded there wasn't enough evidence to lay criminal charges.

The infant, Joretta Inuktalik, was just seven weeks old when she was found frozen outside, wrapped in a man's parka in the snow.

According to people close to the family, the baby was with her father Matthew Inuktalik when he fell unconscious outside, following a night of drinking. The father was discovered in the early morning by a passerby and dragged to safety, but no one noticed the infant missing until it was too late.

Her body was found at about 6:30 a.m. It wasn't clear how long she'd been outside. Temperatures had dipped to -27 C that night.

Inuktalik's parents have two other school-aged children.

The police files will now be sent to NWT Chief Coroner Percy Kinney so he can prepare his report. That report will likely be released within the next couple of months. Kinney has the power to order a coroner's inquest into the death, but he says it is unlikely in this case.