Curtis Kevin Morin stabbed 29-year-old Bailey Bradley Lonechild in a “split second” during a fight over a weapon believed to be a machete.
Now, he has to live with the agony of knowing he killed someone he considered a friend, his lawyer says.
Morin never denied stabbing Lonechild on Jan. 17, 2017, in the bedroom of an Avenue M South home where the Crown said “basically everyone in the residence” was consuming drugs and alcohol. The issues in court were the circumstances of the stabbing and whether Morin was “legally culpable,” defence lawyer Leslie Sullivan said during Morin’s sentencing hearing in Saskatoon Court of Queen’s Bench.
Witnesses had slightly different accounts of the same event, according to an agreed statement of facts presented in court. The common thread in their stories was that Lonechild and Morin got into an argument over a machete Lonechild had brought to the house. It escalated into a physical fight and ended when Morin quickly stabbed Lonechild, puncturing his heart.
Eight days later, Morin was arrested for pointing a sawed-off .22-calibre rifle at a police car that was trying to pull him over. Officers realized a warrant had been issued for his arrest in connection with Lonechild’s death. He was later charged with second-degree murder.
On Monday, Morin, 26, pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter and was sentenced to seven years — a joint-submission proposed by the Crown and defence. He received a three-and-a-half year sentence for pointing the loaded, prohibited firearm at police.
Bailey Lonechild, 29, was identified as the victim of Saskatoon’s second homicide of 2017
Crown prosecutor Bryce Pashovitz said the fact that Morin was not the aggressor, that Lonechild had the machete in the first place and that a fight ensued means a jury might have acquitted Morin of murder. Manslaughter fit the circumstances best, Pashovitz told court.
He noted this was not Morin’s first violent offence. Court heard he had 18 prior convictions on his criminal record and was only out of jail for six months before he killed Lonechild.
Sullivan said Morin was on track to get a business degree before relationship problems and a brother’s homicide returned him to a life of drugs and negative influences. After the stabbing, Morin didn’t care if he lived or died, Sullivan said.
“I never meant for it to happen,” Morin said in court, apologizing to Lonechild’s family.
“I know what it feels like to lose someone you love.”
Pashovitz said the victim’s family couldn’t attend Monday’s sentencing but were aware of what would be happening. The family submitted a victim impact statement, describing Lonechild as a loving father who once enjoyed making music with friends and fixing things. He had been dealing with his own demons and was seeking “the right path,” according to the statement.
Lonechild was convicted of manslaughter in the 2005 stabbing death of 17-year-old Justin Sproat. One of Lonechild’s family members told the Saskatoon StarPhoenix that Lonechild had tried to turn his life around before he died.