Hunting incident tore family apart, court hears

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This article was published 23/06/2020 (2142 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A man’s death during a 2016 night hunting incident has torn a family apart, a Brandon court heard during an emotional sentencing hearing on Monday.

Crown attorney Sarah Murdoch read victim impact statements from Dylan Hapa’s parents during the hearing for Sheldon Wanbdiska, who was acquitted in February of criminal negligence causing death in the shooting death of his 24-year-old cousin on Sept 27, 2016.

Wanbdiska was found guilty of careless use of a firearm by Justice Scott Abel. He pleaded not guilty during a trial in Brandon Court of Queen’s Bench last October to criminal negligence causing death and careless use of a firearm in relation to Hapa’s death.

Wanbdiska did plead guilty to possession of a prohibited firearm without a licence, possession of a prohibited firearm with ammunition and unauthorized possession of a firearm in a motor vehicle.

In Hapa’s mother’s victim impact statement, she says her son’s death has been agony and she never knew this level of suffering existed.

“There aren’t any words to express how I miss my Dylan. I have cried so many tears. I often cried until I couldn’t breathe and I collapse from my grief and still I cry every day. I wake every morning and for a split second I don’t remember he is gone, but then it hits me and it starts again, another day without him,” Murdoch read to the court.

A statement from the victim’s father, Darryl Hapa, was similarly emotional. He said he feels like his perfect world has been shattered.

“No parent should endure this kind of sadness, no parent should bury their child, no parent should have to live like this,” Darryl’s statement says.

Hapa was shot in the upper leg after he and Wanbdiska got out of the truck they were spotlighting from to pursue a deer, the court heard during a trial last October.

Wanbdiska said in a police statement he tucked the firearm — a sawed-off rifle — under his arm with the barrel pointed behind him while using a flashlight.

He fumbled with the gun and it went off as he tried to squeeze it with his arm to regain hold of it, hitting Hapa — who was standing behind him — in the process.

Hapa later died at Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg.

In his decision, Abel said he could not conclude that the Crown had proven beyond a reasonable doubt that Wanbdiska could have foreseen an obvious and serious risk that night, or that he chose to ignore that risk.

While placing a firearm under the arm with the muzzle pointed backward without checking to see if the firearm was loaded creates a risk, Abel said, but there were a number of factors that a reasonable person could not have foreseen.

Wanbdiska also did not point the gun directly at Hapa, Abel said, nor was he brandishing the firearm or swinging it around.

Murdoch suggested a sentence of one year in jail for the careless use of a firearm charge followed by 18 months of probation. She said Wanbdiska didn’t take reasonable precautions for other people’s safety while holding the gun, including not checking if it was loaded, carrying it backward and not knowing where the other people were.

“Mr. Wanbdiska did all these things, even though again he knew better as he had taken firearm safety training,” the Crown attorney said.

That brief period of carelessness resulted in the most serious consequences, she said.

“The message must be clear that firearms must always be handled carefully. Failure to do so can result in serious consequences and sentences … especially if it causes serious harm to another person.”

Andrew Synyshyn, Wanbdiska’s defence lawyer, suggested a three-year suspended sentence to avoid spending time in jail. He said Wanbdiska is extremely remorseful for what he did, but spending time in jail won’t bring Hapa back or be beneficial to the community.

“In those (victim impact statements) you see nothing of vengeance, nothing of the request or requirement for Mr. Wanbdiska to pay for what he did. Ultimately, it’s about the loss of Dylan (Hapa). … That’s all we’re dealing with here is the hurt and the loss of Mr. Hapa,” Synyshyn said.

Speaking to the court, Wanbdiska apologized to Hapa’s family through tears, including to the victim’s mother.

“It hurts me every day knowing she’s in pain,” he said. “I wish I could make it better … I just want it to be over, I just want my family to be healed.”

A date for the sentencing is expected to be scheduled in July.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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