WETASKIWIN, Alta. – The parents of a five-year-old boy who was shot dead as he slept in his bed on an Alberta reserve don’t want to be part of a sentencing conference for one of three teens who fired the gun.
A sentencing hearing for the three youths has been delayed until March, because one of the youths asked to be part of the youth restorative action program. When requested, it’s a mandatory conference that can offer sentencing recommendations.
The teens have admitted they took turns firing the rifle at a home on the gang-plagued Samson Cree reserve in Hobbema in 2011.
Ethan Yellowbird was struck in the head by a bullet as he slept in his tiny fire-truck bed.
The teens – 13, 16 and 17 at the time – have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
Ethan’s grandmother, Debbie Buffalo, says relatives won’t attend the sentencing conference because they don’t believe the teens are remorseful.
“It’s a matter of one individual that is going through this process, trying to save their butt, and I don’t want any part of that process,” Buffalo said Wednesday as she left court.
“I don’t see any genuine remorse, at all, on the part of any of these accused,” Buffalo said. “None of them have approached anybody in either of our families to say that they’re sorry.”
A judge will have the final say on sentencing. The hearing for all three youths has been rescheduled for March 20th.
With files from Global News.
Comments