Nunavut mother gets life sentence for 2016 ‘revenge’ killing of child

A Nunavut judge described a woman’s actions as a “revenge filicide” as she was handed down a life sentence for the killing of a child.

The woman was convicted last year of the second-degree murder of her six-year-old daughter and the attempted murder of her two sons — a four-year-old boy and four-month-old boy.

The woman’s name, as well as the names of the children and their father, are subject to a court-ordered publication ban.

In court Wednesday, Justice Susan Charlesworth described a combative relationship between the woman and her partner, the father of the children.

The woman didn’t want to live anymore and she didn’t want her children to live with their father either, the judge said.

On May 12, 2016, the woman stabbed her children then attempted to kill herself before calling the RCMP.

“When she realized she could not kill herself … she called for help,” Charlesworth said.

She and the children were medevaced to Winnipeg.

The woman was arrested shortly after she was released from hospital and has been in custody since.

The woman could be heard muttering a profanity during Wednesday’s proceedings as Charlesworth read the facts of the case.

Despite the woman’s actions, Charlesworth described her as someone who had been “well-liked” in her community before the killings.

The woman is also liked by staff at the Nunavut Women’s Correctional Centre in Iqaluit, where she has been in custody, Charlesworth said.

The judge noted that staff from the centre were among the dozen spectators in the gallery of the courtroom.

In Canada, second-degree murder convictions come with an automatic sentence of life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 to 25 years.

In this case, Charlesworth set the parole ineligibility period to 15 years, starting from the day of her 2016 arrest.

Charlesworth said the decision to grant parole or not will be in the hands of the Parole Board of Canada.

The woman was also handed two 10-year sentences for the attempted murder convictions, which are to be served concurrently at the same time as the murder sentence.

Charlesworth said she felt the woman was remorseful for her actions, and wished her luck as she prepares to serve her life sentence in a women’s penitentiary in the south.

“Continue to work on yourself,” Charlesworth said.

The woman was in tears as court closed. Eventually, she put her parka on and was escorted back into the courthouse cells.