Warning: This story contains graphic details
A teen girl who has admitted to killing a six-week-old baby was rated at a high risk to reoffend and needs lifelong support, according to youth justice workers.
The teen pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the July 2016 death of Nikosis Jace Cantre. He died of blunt force trauma to the head after the teen beat him while she was given a place to stay by strangers, according to an agreed statement of facts.
A scheduled five-day hearing is underway in Saskatoon Provincial Court to determine if the teen, who can’t be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, should be sentenced as an adult. She’s now 18 years old, but was 16 when she killed Nikosis.
The provincial coordinator of the Intensive Rehabilitation Custody and Supervision program testified Tuesday the teen needs “lifelong” services, which cannot be provided with a youth or IRCS sentence.
The IRCS program offers specialized and intensive rehabilitation services for young offenders who have mental health issues and have committed a serious violent crime. Provincial coordinator Jennifer Peterson said it was decided the teen isn’t eligible for the program because the IRCS program doesn’t provide services after an offender’s sentence is complete.
The maximum youth sentence for second-degree murder is four years in custody, followed by three years supervised in the community.
Peterson also testified a psychologist believes the teen wouldn’t have the ability to internalize the program and make changes in her life. Court heard the teen has conduct disorder and the psychologist had concerns about how the teen functions in everyday scenarios.
The program director at Paul Dojack Youth Centre in Regina testified the teen was rated a five out of five risk to reoffend.
Crown prosecutor Jennifer Claxton-Viczo also called witness James Gonzo with Correctional Service of Canada and asked what the parole board could do for those with adult sentences who need “lifelong support.” Gonzo explained it would engage with community partners prior to an offender’s release to put together a plan.
“So when they get to the community they have someone, or an organization, to help them with their daily needs,” he said.
He testified those who are handed a life sentence are under some sort of supervision for the rest of their lifetime – even if they receive parole.
Court also heard about programming at a federal women’s prison in Edmonton that has programming directed at Indigneous females, which can be taken a second time once an offender is released.
The teen escaped while on an open-custody sentence at Kilburn Hall in Saskatoon.
She met a woman while looking for a place to stay. The teen told her she escaped from a group home in Prince Albert. The stranger gave her food, clothing and tried to take her to EGADZ youth centre but it was closed, according to the agreed facts.
The woman took the teen to her home and eventually to a home in the 200 block of Waterloo Crescent, where Nikosis and his family lived. The teen had never met anyone in the home but they agreed to let her stay there. She drank alcohol and eventually went into the baby’s room and beat him. Nikosis’s mother Alyssa Bird saw the teen come out of the bedroom and when she went inside she found Nikosis in a play pen. She saw blood, scratches and bruises. A 911 call was made at 6:50 a.m. and Nikosis was pronounced dead in hospital about 45 minutes later.
Last week, on day one of the adult sentencing hearing, the details of how she killed Nikosis were so graphic many of the baby’s family members left the courtroom crying and the judge ordered a break.
A video showed the teen explaining to police, in great detail, how she choked, punched, kicked and stabbed Nikosis with a nail in the early morning hours of July 3, 2016.
I was holding that baby, rocking him like a mom,” she said in the video. She was in the room for about five minutes before she beat him. “I just started choking him and punching his head in.”
The teen told the police officer in the video, which was recorded just over a week after the baby’s death, she took all her anger out on the baby.
“I was sick and tired of life,” she said. “That’s why I hurt that baby and I killed it.”
The adult sentencing hearing is scheduled to resume on Thursday when court is expected to hear victim impact statements.
