Tiffany Rose admitted she was "stressed out" in the days before her baby was taken to hospital with severe brain injuries.

Money was tight, she hadn't slept much and six-week-old Kurious George Rose-Desmanche "cried all the time."

The baby's father and her partner, Rourke Desmanche, 23, who is charged with manslaughter in Kurious's death, wasn't pulling his weight and they "argued every single day."

"I was getting overwhelmed," she said Tuesday during cross-examination at Desmanche's trial.

"He cried all the time. He was never happy," she said.

During her second day of testimony, Rose, 29, was caught in contradictions from police statements and preliminary hearing testimony.

She admitted to flagrantly violating court orders to have Desmanche live with her and Kurious and lying to the police about the circumstances surrounding Kurious's death.

Also, through questioning from defence lawyer Carolyn Ayre, Rose was under treatment for mental illness since she was nine. At the time of Kurious's death, she was prescribed Ritalin and an anti-psychotic medication, but wasn't taking them.

When Ayre asked if she was selling her Ritalin, Rose paused. "Yeah, I might have."

She found relief smoking marijuana and admitted she was addicted to Oxycontin.

She agreed with Ayre she was the primary caregiver to Kurious. She sometimes gave herself "time-outs" because of anger issues and had punched holes in walls.

Desmanche, who dealt drugs, wasn't always around and didn't spend as much time with the baby. When he did, Rose said, she never had concerns about him with the baby and agreed he was generally more patient.

On Aug. 2, when she said she was trying to wean herself off drugs, she agreed she would have been sick, sleepy and vomiting.

Later in her testimony, she said she described how her collicky baby was more whiny and agitated than usual the day he fell ill. "He was having problems," she said. "When he was awake he was miserable."

Rose agreed at least five people visited the house that day.

Ayre questioned how Rose could be so "pill sick," yet after Desmanche woke her up with the lifeless baby she was able during her call to 911 to quickly make up a story about the baby choking and lie to the dispatcher that she was alone.

She maintained the lies to the hospital staff before coming clean with the police that Desmanche had been living with her.

Desmanche never saw Kurious in the hospital and didn't attend his funeral. He was arrested in September 2010 near Saskatoon.

Assistant Crown attorney Karen Bellehumeur reviewed some of the text messages between Rose and Desmanche while he was evading police, where Desmanche described his plan for them to take on new identities.

Rose said she never planned to follow through on the scheme but wanted to keep track of Desmanche.

Rose admitted she still loved him but didn't want to be with him. "I don't fall out of love easily with people," she said.

The trial continues today.

jane.sims@sunmedia.ca



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THE CASE IN A NUTSHELL

Rourke Desmanche, 23, has pleaded not guilty to assault and manslaughter in the death of his infant son, Kurious George Rose-Desmanche, who was taken to hospital on Aug. 2, 2010. He was placed on life support and doctors found severe brain injuries consistent with being shaken. There were also older brain injuries from a previous event. Kurious died Aug. 27, 2010.