Mother of children missing for eight months accuses partner of abuse: documents

By Canadian Press on January 15, 2026.

HALIFAX — The mother of two Nova Scotia children reported missing more than eight months ago alleges in newly unsealed court documents that her common-law partner was sometimes physically abusive and hurt her.

The police documents, filed to support applications for search warrants, include unproven allegations and excerpts from interviews with the children’s mother, Malehya Brooks-Murray.

On May 2, 2025, she called 911 to report that four-year-old Jack Sullivan and his six-year-old sister Lilly Sullivan had wandered away from their rural home north of Halifax.

According to police, Brooks-Murray told investigators that the children’s stepfather, Daniel Martell, would sometimes hold her down and once pushed her.

As well, she told police he would also try to block her and take her phone to prevent her from calling her mother, which she said sometimes hurt.

None of the allegations has been tested in court.

Reached today by phone, Martell denied the allegations, saying they are part of a narrative designed to make him look evil.

Also in the newly unsealed documents is a statement Martell gave to police on May 6, saying he and Brooks-Murray would yell at each other when they were fighting, but that there was no physical violence in their relationship.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Jan. 15, 2026.

The Canadian Press