Spotlight hunter jailed for accidentally killing cousin

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This article was published 27/08/2020 (2044 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

BRANDON – A man will spend the next month in jail and year under house arrest after accidentally killing his cousin while hunting at night, but a judge says the accused will have to spend the rest of his life living with the trauma of what happened that night.

Sheldon Wanbdiska, 40, was found guilty in February of careless use of a firearm in the shooting death of his 24-year-old cousin, Dylan Hapa, during a 2016 hunting incident. During his Court of Queen’s Bench trial in October 2019, he was found not guilty of criminal negligence causing death.

Hapa was shot in the upper right leg after he and Wanbdiska got out of the truck they were spotlighting from to pursue a deer.

The gun was at Wanbdiska’s feet in the truck, and he said in a police statement he tucked the sawed-off rifle under his arm with the barrel pointed behind him while using a flashlight.

He fumbled with the gun while reaching into his pocket to grab a shell and it went off as he tried to squeeze it with his arm to regain hold of it, hitting Hapa — who was standing behind him — in the process.

Hapa died a few days later at the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

Wanbdiska also pleaded guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm without a licence, possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition and unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle.

During a June sentencing hearing, Crown attorney Sarah Murdoch asked the judge to sentence Wanbdiska to a year in jail and 18 months probation for careless use of a firearm, while defence lawyer Andrew Synyshyn suggested a three-year suspended sentence.

Hapa’s death has been crushing for his family. In victim impact statements, Hapa’s mother says her son’s death has been agony and she never knew this level of suffering existed.

“There aren’t any words to express how I miss my Dylan,” she said. “I have cried so many tears. I often cried until I couldn’t breathe and I collapse from my grief and still I cry every day. I wake every morning and for a split second I don’t remember he is gone, but then it hits me and it starts again, another day without him.”

While reading his decision on Thursday, Justice Scott Abel said Wanbdiska didn’t take reasonable precautions for the safety of others. He didn’t make sure the gun was unloaded and he carried in a dangerous way.

“This case highlights the reality that is all too familiar for Indigenous people in Canada — that a young Indigenous man has died for no apparent reason and that another Indigenous man is facing the possibility of incarceration in a system that has disproportionately incarcerated Indigenous people,” he said.

Abel added that Wanbdiska’s remorse is “true and genuine” and he didn’t set out to cause Hapa’s death. During his sentencing, Wanbdiska broke down in tears, apologizing to Hapa’s mother and father and wishing he could heal his family.

The judge said the Wanbdiska is not a danger to the public and safety would not be put at risk by having him serve his sentence in the community.

“I am satisfied that this experience with these charges and having to live with the result of causing the death of Dylan Hapa sufficiently deters the accused from further criminal activity. In my view, the accused does not represent a danger to the safety of the community,” he said.

Despite this, Abel said the law does not allow him to order house arrest for part of his charges. He sentenced him to 30 days in jail for possessing a loaded and prohibited firearm with accessible ammunition and occupying a motor vehicle in which he knew there was a firearm.

He also sentenced him to a year of house arrest for careless use of a firearm, followed by two years of probation and a lifetime ban from owning weapons.

Abel said rehabilitation is a significant part of the sentence and sentenced him to 100 hours of community service. The community service must be around activities that promote or preserve Dakota culture or the community, activities that benefit members of the Indigenous community or that deter young people from engaging in crime, violence and drugs.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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