A Montreal mother pleaded guilty to manslaughter on Thursday in the stabbing death of her six-year-old daughter, avoiding a trial. She had initially been charged with second-degree murder.

On July 23, 2020, Maellie Brossoit Nogueira was found in the family's apartment in the Mercier-Hochelaga-Maisonneuve borough suffering from stab wounds.

She was later pronounced dead in hospital.

Stéphanie Brossoit, the girl's mother — who was 36 at the time of the stabbing — suffered minor injuries and was also sent to hospital.

According to evidence presented in court, the mother was heavily intoxicated at the time of the stabbing, having consumed prescription pills, the depressannt gamma hydroxybutyrate (GBH) and a cannabis cake.

On Thursday, the publication ban on the victim's identity was lifted at her father's request. Brossoit will be back in court for sentencing arguments later this month.

'We are the victims'

The mother's guilty plea for manslaughter didn't sit well with the victim's family members.

They wanted to her to face a harsh sentence and be made an example of.

Murder convictions come with automatic life sentences with no possibility of parole before at least 10 years for second-degree murder or 25 years for first-degree murder.

There are no minimum prison sentences for manslaughter, unless the crime was committed with a firearm.

"Now, each parent can kill and then they're going to get six, seven years in prison?" said Manuela Pires, Maellie's aunt.

"What about us? We are the victims."

Simon Lapierre, the Crown prosecutor in the case, said he understood the family's reaction to the manslaughter guilty plea.

"The death of a child, regardless of the circumstances, is always a tragedy, even more so when the circumstances are violent," he said. "Their reaction is completely normal."