Two youths were scheduled to appear in court Friday to enter their plea on charges of manslaughter in the death of 5-year-old Ethan Yellowbird.
The little boy was shot to death in a drive-by shooting on the Hobbema reserve last summer, spurring calls for an end to the violence in the community.
Last July, 5-year-old Ethan Yellowbird was sleeping in his bed when a bullet fired from outside his bedroom wall struck him in the head.
Ethan was shot on Staff Sgt. Charlie Wood’s first shift in charge of the Hobbema detachment. He described the death as a tragedy for the entire community, including the officers who know the local children.
“What stands out for me is that right from the early days of shock and the grief, this community was asking the RCMP, ‘What can we do to help you solve this crime?”‘
It was the second shooting that day on the Samson Cree reserve, one of four that make up the crime-troubled Hobbema community about an hour’s drive south of Edmonton.
The Samson First Nation has struggled with gang violence for years, and the boy’s death served as a tipping point of sorts for residents, who were often reluctant to speak out about crimes and their perpetrators.
The chief and the RCMP issued public pleas for people to come forward with information in the case – and they did.
“The Samson Cree Nation is full of law-abiding, strong and proud people,” Chief Yellowbird said. “The days of gangs wreaking havoc on our nation are over. We shall not relent until we know that all our people are safe.”
Chief Yellowbird adopted Ethan as his grandson according to traditional Cree beliefs. It is a spiritual relationship considered as strong as blood.
Early January, RCMP announced they had charged three teenage boys with manslaughter in the fatal shooting.
Investigators would not provide details about the suspected motive for the shooting, but described the three accused as having ties to gangs.
About a dozen gangs have been fighting over the drug trade on the reserve over the last few years. Police have said more than half of the 14,000 residents are under 18 and especially vulnerable to the lure of gang money and status.
Ethan was not the only child to get caught up in violence on the reserve.
In 2008, 23-month-old Asia Saddleback was shot as she sat at a kitchen table eating dinner. She survived, but the bullet is permanently lodged between her liver and spine.
After that shooting, the reserve pledged to curb violence and crime. It imposed a nightly curfew for teens and started a gun amnesty project.
But within three months, a 16-year-old boy was shot and killed. Relatives confirmed he was a gang member. A 20-year-old woman was also shot in the head when her home was riddled with gunfire.
In November 2010, a 28-year-old man standing in his living room on the reserve was struck by several bullets in another drive-by shooting.
Band members later voted to give their leaders the power to evict suspected gang members. Ethan’s shooting was cited as one of the reasons the vote was held.
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