WARNING: Details in this story are disturbing. Discretion is advised.
It was an emotional day in a B.C. courtroom on Monday as members of Naomi Onotera’s family read victim impact statements.
“(A) horrendous act has left our family without our daughter, sister and niece,” Onotera’s mother Maureen said on Monday. “And, above all, a little girl without her mama.”
Obnes Regis pleaded guilty to manslaughter and interfering with human remains in the 2021 death of Onotera, a mother and a schoolteacher.
According to an admission of facts, Regis cut up Onotera’s body and used public transit and cabs to travel with his two-year-old daughter to various locations to dispose of his wife’s remains.
The court heard that Regis had been ordered deported to Haiti multiple times since 2011. He is set to be deported after he has served his sentence in Canada.
Onotera’s sister, Kristen Kerr, said in court Monday that Regis “not only stole my sister from us, he did something so atrocious — so unbelievable — that we weren’t even able to lay her to rest, and say goodbye.”
Onotera’s teenage nieces and nephew also addressed the court as Regis appeared unemotional and unfazed.
Kerr spoke of the little girl left behind without her mother.
“The knowledge of this heinous crime will forever be part of her life,” she said.
“I have no forgiveness for you, (Regis). And every breath you take is a breath wasted.”
The sentencing hearing will continue on Tuesday. The Crown is asking for Regis to be sentenced to 19 years behind bars.