By Peter Wolf | North of Polite
Editorial — November 2, 2026
Fiasal Hussein should have had time. Time to grow, make mistakes, change his mind and discover who he wanted to become. He was twelve years old. Instead, his name is now attached to a homicide investigation, and three adults face murder charges in connection with his death.
Before dawn on August 6, Athabasca RCMP received a call from someone who said they had been kidnapped and injured. Officers responding to the area found a stolen vehicle and evidence of an attack. At approximately nine that morning, a search uncovered the child’s remains near Calling Lake, Alberta. The medical examiner determined the death was a homicide.
Those are the bare facts of a public account that remains painfully incomplete. Behind them is a boy whose future was taken from him. As this case moves through court, his age and his humanity must remain central to how we discuss it.
Three adults charged
Police announced charges on October 28 following arrests at Edmonton residences on October 24. Cole Morin, 34, and Curtis Brown, 36, each face charges of kidnapping and first-degree murder. Rachel Stuart, 36, faces a charge of second-degree murder.
Cole Morin is the son of Sharon Morin and the grandson of the late Senator Thelma J. Chalifoux, Sharon Morin as co-founder and board president of the Michif Cultural and Resource Institute in St. Albert, Alberta.
All three accused were remanded into custody following an October 26 appearance in the Alberta Court of Justice in Athabasca. According to the RCMP, their next court appearance is scheduled for November 9, 2026, in Athabasca. The public information reviewed does not specify what matters will be addressed that day. None of the charges has been proven in court, and all three are presumed innocent.
A child’s life cannot be reduced to his associations
CityNews reported that investigators allege Fiasal knew the accused and was deceived into accompanying them. Police have also described associations with people involved in criminal activity. Those statements warrant accurate reporting. They do not tell us everything about his life, explain his death or diminish his right to protection.
This is where public discussion needs care. References to a child’s associations can quickly become a judgment about whether he was innocent enough to deserve our sympathy. Readers begin examining his supposed choices before they know what choices were actually available to him, what he understood or what influence adults exercised.
A twelve-year-old does not stand on equal footing with adults. Familiarity does not establish equal power, and accompanying someone does not establish an understanding of the danger ahead. Whatever the evidence eventually reveals about Fiasal’s circumstances, his right to safety was never conditional on being a perfect child.
We should be able to examine difficult facts without turning them into excuses. A child who encounters danger needs protection. If the circumstances of his life made him vulnerable, that should sharpen our concern.
Accountability requires answers
The charges are serious. They must be tested in court, where evidence can be challenged and responsibility determined. Public disgust cannot substitute for that process, just as a prominent family connection cannot answer the questions the evidence must resolve.
Beyond the criminal allegations are questions about how Fiasal came to be in danger. Did anyone recognize a threat? Was help sought? Was there an opportunity to intervene? We do not yet have enough information to assign responsibility to his family, a school, police or a public agency. We should pursue answers without pretending we already possess them.
That requires patience and follow-through. An arrest announcement attracts attention, but the proceedings that follow can unfold with far less public scrutiny. The November 9 appearance is the next scheduled court date, not a promised resolution. What happens afterward deserves the same commitment to accuracy as the initial headlines.
A child’s death deserves more than a burst of anger followed by silence. Fiasal deserves coverage that follows the evidence, distinguishes allegations from findings and remembers the life at the center of the case.
He was twelve. He should have had time.
© 2026 North of Polite. Original reporting, analysis and commentary. All rights reserved. 🍁
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