WARNING: This story contains details which may be disturbing for some readers
An Alberta woman who was so badly beaten during a sexual assault that she had to learn how to walk and talk again says there have been times when she wished her attacker had “finished her off.”
The woman’s victim impact statement was read in a Lethbridge courtroom at the sentencing hearing of Denzel Dre Colton Bird.
Bird, who is 21, pleaded guilty last fall to striking the then-25-year-old woman from behind with a metal pipe, dragging her into an alley and sexually assaulting her while she was walking to work in September 2016.
The blows caused multiple skull fractures and fractured her facial bones as well.
The woman, who was in a separate courtroom with her family, said she struggles with her emotions, has trouble with her balance and contracted a sexually transmitted disease from Bird.
She said her life has been changed forever.
Other family members also read statements describing how the attack has changed their lives and has stolen the young woman and her husband’s future.
“It’s a life sentence,” the woman’s father-in-law said as he described the severity of the incident. “There is no going back. There is no forgiving this.”
During the sentencing hearing, Bird became emotional as he addressed the court.
“I don’t know if the right word is sorry or not,” Bird said, “but I do pray each and every night for forgiveness.”
The defence is asking the judge for no more than eight years in custody, while the Crown is seeking 20 years. The maximum sentence for aggravated sexual assault is life in prison.
“He gave a very heartfelt apology to the victim, to the victim’s family and also to the community,” Bird’s lawyer Tonii Roulston said. “And he realizes the impact, the horrendous impact that his actions have had.”
The judge has reserved his decision on sentencing.
Bird’s case will be back in court later this month in order for a sentencing date to be set.
-With files from Global News’ Quinn Campbell
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