Tyler Applegate’s family disappointed in getaway driver’s sentence

Brandon Applegate remembers his late uncle as a father figure who didn’t deserve to be shot and killed in his own Saskatoon backyard.

He was among a crowd of Tyler Applegate’s family who attended the sentencing for one of four people accused in the late 27-year-old’s killing. The nephew recalled how Applegate showed him how to change tires and swap out brake pads.

“He taught me almost everything and now he’s not here to help me learn. He taught me how to be a good father,” Brandon recalled, while wearing a shirt bearing an image of his uncle’s smiling face.

Madison McKeaveney, 24, was sentenced to four years in prison after Justice Mona Dovell accepted a joint submission from the Crown and defence.

“The way that justice is being served with her only getting four years… that’s just wrong,” Brandon Applegate said outside court.

McKeaveney pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to the discharge of a firearm while being reckless to the life or safety of another person. She also pleaded guilty and received a concurrent two-month sentence for possessing stolen property over $5000.

The sentences will be served after McKeaveney finishes serving a weapons offence.

Crown prosecutor Cory Bliss said Applegate was a “calming force” during a July 22, 2017, confrontation between Applegate’s brother in law and a man who urinated on Applegate’s fence.

After the dispute had ended peacefully, Applegate was in his backyard near 33rd Street West and Avenue W. A group pulled up and Applegate was shot in the abdomen.

He died three weeks later.

Court heard McKeaveney never left the stolen truck that pulled up to yard. The Crown characterized her as the getaway driver who climbed behind the wheel and rushed off with three men who jumped into the vehicle.

Her three co-accused still have matters before the court. The shooter’s alleged involvement cannot be reported due to a publication ban meant to preserve a future jury pool.

Three days after the shooting, police found the gun involved during a search of McKeaveney’s Prince Albert home.

“She could’ve turned the guns in. She had the guns in her place when they arrested her. She knew exactly what was going on,” said Margaret Sippola, Applegate’s mother.

She was among 17 people who submitted victim impact statements Wednesday.

During her statement, Starla Sippola told court how Applegate, her brother, unexpectedly awoke from an induced coma just before his death. Surrounded by 30 people, he asked why everyone was there. They responded it was because they loved him.

She said Applegate’s final words were, “I love you too.”