Accused in St. B killing had long history of mental illness, intoxication

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 20/05/2015 (3922 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg woman accused of the unprovoked killing of her elderly neighbour appears to have fallen through cracks in both the justice and health systems.

Court documents and transcripts paint a troubling picture of Melissa Joyce Gabriel. The 35-year-old is charged with manslaughter for allegedly stabbing an 89-year-old woman to death in the 400 block of Tremblay Street on the long weekend. She is also accused of critically wounding a dog before calling 911 to report the crimes.

On Wednesday, Winnipeg police identified the victim as Dorothy Dykens.

None of the allegations against Gabriel has been proven and she is presumed innocent.

Court documents show Gabriel was diagnosed with schizophrenia and was apparently bounced between specialists while at times — including earlier this year — having no psychiatric care. She has also been fighting alcohol addiction, which has mostly gone untreated.

Gabriel suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder, which has left her unable to work, court transcripts show.

She has lived a largely transient lifestyle, somewhat estranged from her own family while collecting social assistance.

43 convictions since 2004

Gabriel is no stranger to police and the courts. She has 43 criminal convictions dating back to 2004 and recently was assessed as a “high-risk to re-offend.”

She could be the poster child for the revolving door of justice, having spent numerous short stints behind bars while never getting her life on track. “I’ve shown my willingness to change. I want to change. But the alcohol always brings me back,” Gabriel said during a June 2014 sentencing hearing.

The Free Press reviewed a transcript of that proceeding, and several others, on Tuesday.

Gabriel recently pleaded guilty to a drunken assault against a Tim Hortons employee, admitting she punched the woman in the face. The attack was captured on video.

“That’s the main problem all my life. I don’t get angry when I’m sober,” Gabriel told the judge.

She described being an alcoholic since she was 18 while also dealing with schizophrenia.

“I understand I have a lot of mental health issues,” she said.

Gabriel was sentenced to 4-1/2 months in custody, followed by a probation order, which she is accused of breaching by consuming alcohol on the weekend.

Tried unsuccessfully to receive care: lawyer

Police say Gabriel allegedly went to the victim’s home some time between late Saturday and 1:30 a.m. Sunday. The senior was stabbed “multiple times,” police said.

Gabriel allegedly went back to the home she was staying in and attacked a dog, which was taken to a vet. Police said the accused appeared intoxicated when she was arrested, which may explain why she is charged with manslaughter. That suggests the killing was either unintentional or fuelled by substance abuse.

Of Gabriel’s 43 convictions, more than half are for breaching court orders; mostly for failing to abstain from alcohol. There are also a handful of more serious charges, including impaired driving, assaulting police officers, resisting arrest, uttering threats, assault, mischief, forgery and theft. Most of Gabriel’s crimes resulted in probation, suspended sentences and conditional sentences.

Her most recent brush with the law came in February when she pleaded guilty to failing to abstain from alcohol. She was given four days of time served.

Police had arrested her outside her sister’s home in September 2014, a few weeks after she was released from custody for the Tim Hortons assault. Gabriel, who was drunk, had tried to smash her way inside the home after her sister refused to let her in.

Defence lawyer Brett Gladstone told court his client had tried unsuccessfully to find care for her mental illness.

In the past few years, Gabriel had spent time as an in-patient at the Grace Hospital psychiatric unit, court was told.

She had also been assigned a community support worker through the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority, and was given five new medications, Gladstone said.

It’s not clear why Gabriel no longer had that help. “She’s looking for a psychiatrist here. It’s a rather gargantuan beast to tackle,” he told provincial court Judge John Guy in February.

“She’s trying to stay on the straight and narrow.”

This was a change from Gladstone’s comments in June 2014, when Gabriel was getting care for her mental illness after having moved to Winnipeg from Dauphin. “She’s finally had psychiatric intervention. There’s a real prospect for change here,” he said at the time.

Court was also told Gabriel had admitted to having “violent ideations” about harming a roommate, but hadn’t acted on it. That occurred in early 2014 and was reported to the mobile crisis unit. Gabriel is currently in custody on the manslaughter and animal abuse charges.

Her next court appearance is set for today.

www.mikeoncrime.com