Denzel Dre Colton Bird sat silently in court as a judge sentenced him to 15 years in prison.
Last September, Bird admitted to brutally attacking a young woman while she walked to work along 6th Avenue South in September 2016.
A member of the victim’s family spoke with reporters after the sentence was handed down and said they are satisfied with the ruling.
“As far as the Canadian justice system goes, justice was served. And hopefully we don’t ever have to see the guy again,” he said.
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“How do you recover? To quote Willy Nelson, he said, ‘It’s not something you get over, it’s something you get through.’”
Bird’s defense team said he was a little shocked at the length of the sentence.
“He’s obviously very upset with the outcome. He was hoping for a sentence under the range of 10 years. He has indicated that he will be appealing his sentence,” said representative Jeanine Zahara.
The court heard Bird struck the then-25-year-old woman over the head with a metal pipe before he dragged her into an alley and sexually assaulted her.
She was later found by two men who said she was hanging out of a garbage can. She suffered multiple skull fractures, facial fractures, and still struggles with her balance.
In her victim impact statement, she said there are times when she had wished that her attacker would have “finished her off.”
Crown asked for 20 years in prison while Bird’s lawyer wanted him to serve eight.
He received about two-and-a-half years off of his sentence for time served.
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