A man charged in the death of another man in downtown Saskatoon pleaded guilty Thursday to manslaughter in provincial court.
Duran Laplante was charged with second degree murder following the death of 24-year-old Elijah Kozak in August 2018.
He was sentenced to five years and after credit for time served has three years and three months left.
Laplante and the victim were in a fight in the 200 block of Fifth Avenue North and the other man died of his injuries, according to police.
Court heard how Kozak had been dating Laplante’s sister and was banging on the front door of the apartment she lived in for about 20 minutes after she wouldn’t let him inside.
Duran Laplante happened to be visiting his sister at the time and eventually confronted Kozak in the hallway where he admitted he fatally stabbed him once in the abdomen.
In a victim impact statement, Kozak’s mother Nadia Kozak said: “The person getting a life sentence is me. I am 44 years old and I will never have another child. It means I won’t have grandkids and he won’t take care of me when I’m old.”
Elijah Kozak was an only child.
Before being sentenced Laplante told court that he and Kozak were once friends and that he’s sorry for what happened and he knows the Kozak family is hurting.
