Winnipeg mother shocked after charge against woman accused of son’s death dropped

The mother of a young boy who was fatally stabbed earlier this year in Winnipeg’s north end says the justice system let her down after the manslaughter charge against the woman accused in his death was dropped.

Shania Pirrie, 19, was arrested in June and charged with manslaughter in the death of 12-year-old Sanchez Boulanger.

On Tuesday, Crown attorneys stayed the charge against Pirrie, citing insufficient grounds for conviction.

Joni Gabriel, Sanchez’s mother, said she was let down.

“I didn’t understand it and I asked them to explain it, and after they explained it, I was pretty much in shock and I was like angry,” Gabriel said.

At the time of the incident, police said Boulanger was killed after there was an argument between two groups of people.

When officers arrived, they found the boy on the road with serious injuries.

An off-duty nurse tried helping the boy before he was rushed to the hospital, but he later died.

0:47 12-year-old boy dies after stabbing: Winnipeg police

Gabriel said she was expecting the woman accused of killing her son to do time behind bars.

“The justice system failed my son and my family,” Gabriel said.

Crown attorney Ami Kotler told the court his office reviewed witness statements, pictures and cell video and determined it could not be proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the accused was not acting in self defence.

“The evidence establishes, among other things, that the death occurred while the accused and her family were attempting to retreat and being pursued and while the accused was on the phone with 911,” Kotler said.

“We are aware that these are very painful decisions and that Sanchez Boulanger’s family has suffered a loss that cannot be described and that no parent wants to imagine. However, our actions are guided by the law, and in this case, the law requires that we not continue with the charge.”

Kristen Jones, Pirrie’s lawyer, later said her client maintained her innocence and is relieved that prosecutors decided to drop the charge.

Gabriel now just wants her son to remembered as the quiet and polite boy he was.

“He’s not bad like how they’re trying to make him sound, like he was just some person out there on the street,” Gabriel said.

“He was good, he had a good heart.”