Trio stands trial for drive-by shooting death of 21-year-old city woman

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This article was published 06/01/2020 (2131 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

While her cousin lured 21-year-old Shania Chartrand outside a Spence Street rooming house, two of her killers circled the block in a car, waiting to shoot, prosecutors alleged Monday.

Tyrone Anthony Chippeway, 24, Lacy Sorokowski, 24, and Christopher Ryan St. Paul, 26, are on trial for second-degree murder in the March 12, 2017, killing.

“Each had a part to play in the shooting of Shania Chartrand, and all are guilty of murder,” Crown attorney Rustyn Ullrich said in an opening address to the jury.

Ullrich alleged Chippeway, who he identified as Chartrand’s cousin, communicated with the victim through Facebook Messenger, and convinced her to exit the Winnipeg home around 10 p.m.

Sorokowski and St. Paul, Ullrich alleged, “circled the block in a Chrysler 300, waiting for her to come out so she could be targeted and shot… And she was shot — once in the chest — ending her life.”

Winnipeg Police Service Const. Kyle Pradinuk and his partner were dispatched to the scene, after a 911 report of shots fired in the area.

Pradinuk testified Monday they found Chartrand slumped over and unresponsive on the front steps, but with no visible signs of injury. Pradinuk performed CPR, while his partner administered a dose of anti-opioid Narcan, in case she had suffered a drug overdose.

“We only did this because we didn’t see any injuries on her,” he said.

Pradinuk said it was only when paramedics arrived several minutes later, and cut away Chartrand’s shirt he noticed a dime-sized entry wound to her chest. Chartrand was transported to Health Sciences Centre, where she was pronounced dead shortly before 11 p.m.

Pradinuk said he was working on an unrelated case weeks later, when he noticed a man he was interviewing had a copy of Chartrand’s obituary. A discussion with the man led Pradinuk to search Facebook for two suspects in the Chartrand case.

The WPS officer said one of the suspects, identified on Facebook under a different name, had prominent facial tattoos, a characteristic he used to search the police service’s database.

The search yielded a match to Christopher St. Paul, Pradinuk said.

“I believed them to be one and the same person,” he said.

The trial continues Tuesday, and is set for four weeks.

Ullrich likened the Crown’s case to a jigsaw puzzle, telling jurors when all the pieces are put together they will be left with “only one rational, undeniable conclusion.”

“The whole case is really just a matter of common sense,” he said. “There will be a number of pieces of the puzzle, and it will be all there for you, and more importantly, they will all fit.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca