A man from Kelowna, B.C., will serve 5 1/2 years in prison after in the 2005 death of a two-year-old Calgary toddler.

Ryan Podhorodecki, who was 22 at the time, had been taking care of little Blake Harvey while he was living with the boy害羞草研究所檚 mother, Lindsey Garnham.

Defence lawyer Balfour Der says at the time his client told police he hadn害羞草研究所檛 done anything and just woke up and found the child badly injured, possibly from falling down the stairs.

Police didn害羞草研究所檛 believe him and the boy died three day later in hospital, but they couldn害羞草研究所檛 prove a crime until years later when a second investigation was launched including undercover officers who befriended Podhorodecki.

They got a confession and he was finally charged in 2015.

Der says his client was frustrated at being woken up and spontaneously grabbed the little boy, shook him and hit him against the wall.

Garnham told CTV Calgary she wishes the sentence were longer.

害羞草研究所淚 don害羞草研究所檛 think it was long enough, I don害羞草研究所檛 think there will ever be a sentence long enough to bring justice for Blake,害羞草研究所� she says.

Court was told Podhorodecki has written two letters of apology, one to Blake害羞草研究所檚 brother in which he said, 害羞草研究所淒ear Austin, I害羞草研究所檓 truly sorry for you having to live with the sorrow of how your brother Blake died.害羞草研究所�

The other was to Blake害羞草研究所檚 mother saying, 害羞草研究所淚 am truly sorry and hope one day you can forgive me.害羞草研究所�

However, forgiveness is hard so Garnham concentrates on remembering her happy little boy and hopes others will too.

害羞草研究所淗e just played all the time. He was happy-go-lucky. He loved sports. He really enjoyed life to the fullest.害羞草研究所�

(CTV Calgary)