Eight-year sentence for fatally stabbing half-sister

BRANDON — A Sioux Valley Dakota Nation man has been sentenced to eight years behind bars for fatally stabbing his half-sister in 2022, robbing her children of their mother.

Ernest Michael Blacksmith, 23, pleaded guilty to manslaughter last year in the death of 30-year-old Aimee-Jo Antoine.

Justice Scott Abel called the circumstances “tragic” as he delivered his sentence in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench on Tuesday, saying it’s important the sentence sends a message to Sioux Valley members.

“The residents of Sioux Valley Dakota Nation have a right to feel safe and be safe in their community and in their homes,” he said. “The sentence imposed … ought to communicate the importance of that right of safety and security.”

The Crown had recommended a sentence of 10 years, while the defence argued for time served, which is the equivalent of about five years and three months.

Blacksmith and Antoine lived with their mother, Penny Antoine, in Sioux Valley and were at her house on Nov. 19, 2022. They had been drinking all day when their mother decided to go to bed.

“She awoke to the sound of screaming,” Abel said. “The mother found the victim on the couch with her legs positioned in front of her. The offender was in front of the couch, yelling at the victim, holding a knife in his right hand.”

Blacksmith stabbed Antoine with a knife several times, while yelling at her and their mother, who was trying to get in front of Antoine, court heard.

The mother called police, and officers found Blacksmith standing in the driveway and Antoine unconscious inside with a “significant” amount of blood on the floor, Abel said.

An autopsy confirmed multiple sharp-force injuries had caused Antoine’s death, the judge said.

She had seven stab wounds, including one to her femoral artery and vein on her right thigh.

Abel said two videos were recovered from Blacksmith’s phone — one of the mother with her body draped over the victim and another of her cradling Antoine’s head.

Blacksmith said he had no recollection of what had happened or why he would have taken videos, Abel said.

“He expressed remorse and a desire to financially care for his sister’s children, as he feels responsible that they do not have a mother,” he said.

The death of Blacksmith’s father, who was an Indian Day School survivor, in 2019, “greatly impacted the offender,” the judge said. Court heard his grandparents were residential school survivors.

“I am also struck and saddened with the tragedy of the circumstances of this offence,” Abel said. “The offender in the pre-sentence report speaks of the impact his own father’s death had on him. Now, because of his actions, his sister’s children will grow up without the love and guidance of their mother.”

Abel said the primary sentencing objectives for manslaughter are denunciation and deterrence, and if the offence involves the abuse of a vulnerable person, including Indigenous women, those objectives are emphasized.

While he noted that Blacksmith is Indigenous and has Gladue factors, he said in these circumstances, “the focus is more on the act rather than the actor.”

“In considering the gravity of the offence, it was high. The offender, with the intentional application of force, killed his sister in their home in front of their mother,” he said.

Despite Blacksmith having no recollection of his actions, Abel said the use of a knife and the number of stab wounds meant Blacksmith knew or must have known there was a risk of serious bodily injury.

The more than five years of time Blacksmith has to his credit will be deducted from his sentence.

— Brandon Sun