A man from 琉璃神社, 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鈥檚 mother, Lindsey Garnham.

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

Police didn鈥檛 believe him and the boy died three day later in hospital, but they couldn鈥檛 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.

鈥淚 don鈥檛 think it was long enough, I don鈥檛 think there will ever be a sentence long enough to bring justice for Blake,鈥� she says.

Court was told Podhorodecki has written two letters of apology, one to Blake鈥檚 brother in which he said, 鈥淒ear Austin, I鈥檓 truly sorry for you having to live with the sorrow of how your brother Blake died.鈥�

The other was to Blake鈥檚 mother saying, 鈥淚 am truly sorry and hope one day you can forgive me.鈥�

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

鈥淗e just played all the time. He was happy-go-lucky. He loved sports. He really enjoyed life to the fullest.鈥�

(CTV Calgary)