WINNIPEG — The woman who lit a rooming house on fire killing five people in 2011 was sentenced to life in prison Thursday.
Lulonda Flett, 41, was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Judge Joan McCawley sentenced Flett to life in prison with no chance of parole for seven years, minus two years already served.
She can apply to be released in five years but will be supervised for the rest of her life.
Thursday, the courtroom was packed with the victims’ families and Flett’s family as they listened to the judge’s ruling.
“Ms. Flett acted out of anger and is entirely responsible for what occurred,” McCawley said.
On July 16, 2011, Flett threw a cigarette onto a couch on the front porch of 288 Austin St.
The house quickly became engulfed in flames, trapping five people inside. Two people escaped.
Court heard Flett was mad and wanted to “get even” with one of the women in the home. Her target escaped the fire.
Norman Darius Anderson, 22, Maureen Claire Harper, 54, Kenneth Bradley Monkman, 49, Dean James Stranden, 44, and Robert Curtis Laforte, 56, died in the fire.
Laforte’s mother, Evelyn, told Global News the justice system did what it was suppose to do but “it still won’t bring back my son.”
Flett’s aunt cried outside court, saying, “I will always love Lulonda. We have to forgive what she’s done.”
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