More than a decade after his tragic death, Jeffrey Baldwin's dream to become Superman has finally come true. A statue of the little boy dressed as the superhero was unveiled in a Toronto park Saturday.
The life-sized statue captures one of the happiest moments in Jeffrey's short life -- when he wore the superhero's iconic red-and-blue suit with the 'S' shield emblazoned on his chest for Halloween one year.
"He wanted to fly," Jeffrey's father, Richard Baldwin, said last September at a coroner's inquest into his son's death.
Jeffrey died on Nov. 30, 2002, weeks shy of his sixth birthday, of bacterial bronchopneumonia as a complication of chronic starvation. When paramedics found him, he weighed 21 lbs. -- one pound less than he did on his first birthday.
Jeffrey's story made national headlines. The little boy had been placed in the care of his grandparents, Elva Bottineau and Norman Kidman, by the Catholic Children's Aid Society along with his three siblings. Both caregivers had previous convictions of child abuse, but the aid society would not discover those files until after Jeffrey's death.
They were eventually charged with second-degree murder in April 2006.
Years later, a months-long inquest that started in September 2013, would focus on the child welfare system, and the factors that led to his horrific death.
His story has touched many people, including Todd Boyce. The Ottawa resident was so moved by the testimony at the inquest he started an online fundraising campaign to build the memorial statue.
"I have no connection whatsoever to Jeffrey or his family," Boyce told CTV News. "It was just his story of what happened to him that really tugged at my heart strings."
The statue now sits at Greenwood Park in Toronto.
"It is situated on a bench so that people will be able to interact with him," Boyce said. "I can envision people sitting down, playing with him, talking with him."
DC Entertainment, the company that owns the rights to Superman, declined permission at first to use the superhero's logo. They said they didn't want it associated with child abuse. The company eventually reversed its initial refusal, and allowed for its use.
Noted Canadian artist Ruth Abernethy created the sculpture. She says she tried to capture more than just Jeffrey's likeness in creating it.
"Jeffrey's positioning is worked out very carefully. I wanted his balance to be right. I wanted him to be eye-level with passersby because it is personal," she said.
"I guess in my own mind, there's a question of, 'Why more wasn't done, why wasn't he noticed."
The statue weighs more than 900 lbs. Signatures and messages from people who contributed are inscribed on the bench.
With a report from CTV News' Peter Akman and files from The Canadian Press
