‘I was just something to throw away’: woman describes terrifying abduction ordeal in courtroom

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 03/12/2024 (305 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

She was held bound and captive by strangers before being stuffed into a duffel bag, tossed in a garbage bin and left to die on a cold winter night.

Almost one year to the day later, the 27-year-old woman stood up in a Winnipeg courtroom Monday and described how the terrifying abduction changed her life forever.

“It was like I wasn’t even human to you, I was just something to throw away,” the woman told Evelyn McKay, one of five people arrested in the Dec. 10, 2023, incident.

“I was scared for my life, I never thought I would survive,” the woman said. “This is not how women should be with each other. Women should stand together.”

McKay, 41, pleaded guilty last September to one count of forcible confinement after admitting to restraining the woman with duct tape and zip ties. On Monday, prosecutors recommended provincial court Judge Mark Kantor sentence her to two years less a day in jail.

The victim was described as a vulnerable Indigenous woman who lives with cognitive challenges.

“She is already a very vulnerable individual,” said Crown attorney Vanessa Gama. “What Ms. McKay did to (her) made her even more vulnerable. By binding her, she was absolutely defenceless. The impact of what followed — leaving her to die, face down and bound in a duffel bag in a garbage bin — has had a lasting and significant impact on (her).”

According to an agreed statement of facts provided to court, the victim was waiting for a bus at Sargent Avenue and Maryland Street at about 3:30 p.m. when a man she didn’t know approached her and said, “You’re coming with me,” before pulling her onto a departing bus.

The man took the victim to a Manitoba Housing complex at 24 Carlton St. and led her to a suite where McKay was visiting with tenants Lorde Barrios and Misty Bird. Also present were Joey Audy and Romeo Miles, two gang members who had gone to the suite armed with a crowbar and knife for the purpose of “recruiting” Barrios to their gang.

The woman used the washroom after she entered the suite, during which time the man who took her there left the building. When the woman exited the washroom, Audy asked her who had taken her there and she mistakenly identified Barrios.

“When Barrios denied knowing the victim, Audy suspected that the victim was a ‘narc’ or a ‘rat,’” said the agreed statement of facts.

McKay, who had been in a brief relationship with Audy, tried to leave the suite. Audy directed her to check the victim for “wires” or recording devices.

Audy punched and kicked the victim in the face before telling McKay and Bird to tie her up with duct tape, the agreed statement of facts said. Audy shoved the woman underneath a bed before telling Miles to grab her belongings. He told Barrios he would came back later and “collect” the victim.

“Barrios, Bird and McKay argued over whether to untie the victim, but decided to keep her tied up because Audy was going to return,” said the agreed statement of facts.

McKay left the suite shortly before 7 p.m. By 8 p.m., Audy had not yet returned. Barrios and Bird untied the victim and took her with them to play VLTs. Barrios gave her $5 to play the machines.

Barrios, Bird and the victim had already made their way back to the suite at 9 p.m. when Audy returned and asked why the victim had been freed from her restraints.

“Barrios replied that he did not think (Audy) was coming back,” said the agreed statement of facts.

Audy punched the woman in the face, then gave her a beer. He spent the next three hours drinking, using drugs and “socializing” with Barrios and Bird.

“During this time, Audy commented that he was going to toss the victim in the dumpster and light her up,” said the agreed statement of facts.

McKay returned to the suite shortly after midnight, at which time Audy told her to tie up the victim again. Audy stomped on the woman’s head and forced her body into a hockey bag.

Audy and McKay took the woman to an elevator, as Audy played music on a portable speaker to “mute (the victim’s) screams.” Once outside, Audy and McKay dragged the hockey bag to a dumpster, where Audy tossed it inside and closed the lid.

“The victim remained quiet for a short period of time and then started screaming and banging on the dumpster,” said the agreed statement of facts. “She was trying to untie herself and panicking as she thought she was going to die.”

About a half-hour later, Barrios went outside and heard the woman screaming. Barrios opened the dumpster lid and told the woman he would be right back. He returned an hour later with Bird and the two removed the woman from the duffel bag and removed her restraints.

The woman was taken back to the suite where she was provided a shower, clothing and food. The next morning, Bird helped the woman board a bus for the Health Sciences Centre, where staff contacted police.

McKay has long struggled with addictions to alcohol and drugs and was homeless at the time of the incident, said defence lawyer Chris Gamby, who urged Kantor to sentence McKay to six months custody on top of time already served.

McKay feared Audy would hurt her if she didn’t comply with his demand to restrain the victim, Gamby said.

“I believe her fear of Joey Audy was genuine,” he said. “Choices were made and they were motivated by fear.”

Gama agreed McKay was under a degree of duress, but not to the point it absolved her of all criminal responsibility.

“There is no dispute (Audy) was the ringleader and mastermind behind this horrific incident,” she said. “Ms. McKay was not the only one to listen to his orders that night.… The Crown accepts Mr. Audy had an influence on her that evening and is an explanation for her conduct.’

Kantor will sentence McKay on Dec. 9. She remains in custody.

Audy remains before the court. A previously completed psychiatric assessment found he is fit to stand trial.

Charges of forcible confinement and robbery involving Barrios and Bird were stayed earlier this year.

Miles pleaded guilty to forcible confinement and robbery and was sentenced in March to 18 months in jail.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca