Lighter sentence sought after killer gets COVID in jail

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This article was published 02/12/2020 (1957 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Two years after he killed a stranger in a Christmas Day stabbing in Winnipeg’s West End, Keenan Tom is awaiting his prison sentence for manslaughter after contracting COVID-19 in jail.

The 26-year-old man was charged with second-degree murder in the Dec. 25, 2018 death of 26-year-old Tyler Smoke, who was trying to run away when Tom stabbed him with a machete in a lane behind Victor Street early that morning. Tom pleaded guilty Tuesday to a lesser charge of manslaughter and is asking Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Anne Turner to sentence him to eight years in prison.

The Crown is seeking a 10-year sentence for what Crown attorney Melissa Serbin described as a senseless, completely unprovoked killing.

Defence lawyer William Marks suggested a lower sentence is more appropriate, considering Tom’s background and the fact he’s been on lockdown in Headingley Correctional Centre for the entire pandemic. He was among dozens of inmates infected in an outbreak at the jail, and that should factor into the judge’s decision, Marks suggested during a sentencing hearing this week.

“These individuals are serving a lot harder time than they were before,” he said.

Tom apologized for killing Smoke, saying it was out of character for him. Though he has a lengthy and serious criminal record, it doesn’t include a violent offence. The judge didn’t hear any evidence about his level of intoxication, but Tom said he doesn’t remember the stabbing.

“It’s out of character for me. I feel like if I was sober, I never would have done this,” he told the judge.

Smoke struggled with addictions, and just before he died, he was trying to get cash to buy meth. He was selling electronics at the corner of Sherbrook Street and Ellice Avenue, and Tom and four friends had been drinking before they encountered him. Smoke offered to sell them headphones and a tablet, and asked if they’d give him $10 for a point of methamphetamine. Instead, the group lured him to a back lane and planned to rob him.

Two other men beat Smoke, knocking him to the ground and stealing his possessions. When the victim got up and tried to get away, Tom went after him and stabbed him in the chest and in the hip. Tom went to his friend’s home nearby, wrapped the bloody machete in a sweater and said he’d just killed someone, a witness later told police.

“The only sentence that really would reflect society’s concern for the sanctity of life, especially when you have a stranger who’s robbed and then simply walking away, is a very lengthy penitentiary sentence,” Serbin told the judge.

Another couple who lived in the area and had heard the commotion, ran to help Smoke. They called 911 and listened to him as he pleaded for help. “Please don’t let me die,” Smoke was saying, Serbin told court.

Very little information about Smoke was entered into the court record. His mother submitted a victim impact statement that said she has thought about suicide since his killing.

Tom has been in custody since his arrest in February 2019.

The Crown and his defence lawyer told the judge they’d both considered significant Gladue factors in the case, since Tom is Métis and didn’t grow up with a connection to his culture. He was 14 when his mother, Cheryl Tom, died of an accidental overdose while being held at the Main Street Project under the Intoxicated Persons Detention Act. Her high-profile death was a precursor to calls for 24/7 paramedic presence and video surveillance at the shelter, and it was also a precursor to her son’s drug use and two suicide attempts.

Gladue reports are used in Canadian courts when considering the sentence for an offender of Indigenous background.

Turner is set to deliver her decision Dec. 17.

The court should take into account the effects of being jailed during the pandemic, Marks said, noting his client is concerned about inconsistent cleaning and use of PPE by correctional officers and other inmates. Tensions are high in the jail because of the virus, he said.

“Mr. Tom hasn’t had any incidents, but you can definitely understand how that would put people on edge… It makes it ten-fold more unpleasant when everybody’s walking on pins and needles and you can’t really say anything because it could lead to a fight. So that’s something that they’re all dealing with at this point,” he told the judge.

katie.may@freepress.mb.ca

Twitter: @thatkatiemay