Mom whose babysitter was shot avoids jail

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This article was published 02/07/2025 (272 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A young Winnipeg mother, arrested after her two-year-old child’s babysitter was accidentally shot while snatching a loaded gun from the child’s hand, has been spared from jail and sentenced to two years of house arrest.

“It is not necessary to send her to jail,” provincial court Judge Cynthia Devine said at a sentencing hearing earlier this year for 23-year-old Hailey Williams.

“Clearly, this young woman does not represent a danger to the community,” Devine said, describing the circumstances of the case as “bizarre” and “very concerning.”

Williams pleaded guilty to one count of possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition for the Sept. 3, 2022 incident.

Court heard Williams had made plans the previous evening to attend a concert with friends, including a man she knew primarily through social media, and arranged for two 14-year-old girls to spend the night at her apartment on St. Anthony Avenue and babysit her son.

An agreed statement of facts provided to court says Williams and her male companion were at the Bulldog Event Centre on Main Street when the man became involved in a fight and quickly left. The two met up at another venue where at some point in the night, Williams learned the man was in possession of a small handgun.

Williams returned home around 5 a.m., at which time the man handed her his gun before departing.

“Willams had not asked (the man) for the gun, nor offered to hold it for him,” said the agreed statement of facts.

Williams, while “significantly under the influence of alcohol,” placed the gun in a closet and went to sleep in bed with her son.

Williams “believed she placed (the gun) on a shelf where her son could not reach it, however, is unsure due to her level of intoxication,” said the agreed statement of facts.

Around 11 a.m., the two babysitters saw the boy holding the gun.

The girls “believed it to be a toy,” but quickly became concerned it was a real gun. One of the girls grabbed the gun and was holding it when it discharged, shooting her in the arm.

Williams was awakened by the shot and tried to apply first aid before calling 911 and telling an operator there had been gunfire outside her apartment from an “unknown male.”

The girls initially supported Williams’s story, but after “continued questioning” by police admitted it was a lie.

Questioned later by police, Williams claimed she was in an abusive relationship and kept the gun for protection. After more questioning, Williams told the truth.

The wounded girl underwent plastic surgery to her arm and has lingering numbness and nerve damage, court heard. Neither of the girls provided victim impact statements to court.

“We have rules about guns, and this is why — because two-year-olds end up holding a gun and a 14-year-old ends up with a gunshot wound to her arm,” Crown attorney Kristee Logan told court.

Logan and defence lawyer Elizabeth Pappas jointly recommended the two-year-conditional sentence, noting Wiliams is genuinely remorseful, complied with all of her bail conditions, quit drinking, and has been assessed by Child and Family Services as posing no safety risk to children.

Williams’s family history has been marked by loss, suicide and residential school involvement. Now a mother of two, the former elementary school aide hopes to pursue a career in culinary arts.

“She is extremely remorseful and continues to work on herself,” Pappas said. “She is a positive contributing member of society and there is no reason to believe she won’t continue to be.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca