Young teen girls plead guilty to manslaughter in 32-year-old woman’s slaying

Two teen girls have pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the drug and alcohol-fuelled slaying of a 32-year-old Chemawawin Cree Nation woman.

During a hearing Tuesday at the Manitoba Youth Centre, the girls — aged 13 and 14 at the time of the May 2024 killing — also pleaded guilty to aggravated assault for stabbing a second woman.

Both girls are expected to be sentenced in the spring, following the completion of several reports.

The younger of the two girls was released on bail with the consent of the Crown with the conditions that she abide by a nightly curfew and have no contact with the surviving victim, her co-accused or any witnesses in the case.

The maximum youth sentence for manslaughter is three years custody and conditional supervision in the community, and two years for aggravated assault.

Court heard the Crown may, depending on the reports, recommend the girls serve their sentences under an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision order.

The IRCS program allows youth participants access to one-on-one counselling, occupational therapy, tutoring and other specialized services at a cost of $100,000 a year.

“It is really important that you show the court you are able to follow orders between now and (sentencing),” provincial court Judge Murray Thompson told the younger girl after agreeing to her release on bail.

“If you come to court with breaches, it’s not going to look good for your sentencing,” he said. “Your actions for the next several months will reflect on what sentence you receive, so govern yourself accordingly.”

According to an agreed statement of facts read out in court, the two girls had been smoking marijuana and drinking vodka together in the late afternoon before arriving at the victim’s home, where they continued to smoke and drink with the victim and others in the home.

“Both (girls) felt highly intoxicated from consuming both marijuana and alcohol, and they both felt more intoxicated than they had ever felt before in their lives,” said Crown attorney Jodi Koffman, reading from the agreed statement of facts.

Sometime during the night, the younger girl fell asleep on a couch. Later, the victim and the older girl started arguing, and the victim demanded she leave the house. The girl refused to leave without her friend and the argument escalated, spilling out to the porch steps, where all three “engaged in a physical altercation.”

The girls “recall that they began throwing rocks at (the victim), hitting her,” before she collapsed in front of the house, Koffman said. “She was stabbed in the course of the altercation.”

RCMP at the time said she died at the scene.

The girls ran to the back of the house, where they chased a 32-year-old woman who was fleeing the home.

The girls caught up to the woman and “engaged in a physical fight with (her), causing serious injuries, including multiple stab wounds,” Koffman said.

The older girl was captured moments later by a community safety officer. The younger girl was arrested at her home later that morning.

RCMP at the time said the accused girls are known to police and have prior involvement with the justice system.

Chemawawin Cree Nation is located about 460 kilometres northwest of Winnipeg.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca