Three years for role in skatepark stabbing

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This article was published 28/03/2022 (1448 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A woman who took part in a “horrific” stabbing at Brandon’s downtown skatepark was sentenced to three years behind bars on Monday morning.

Judge Patrick Sullivan sentenced Naomi Williams for her role in the 2020 group stabbing at the Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skatepark.

Williams, 26, pleaded guilty earlier this year to aggravated assault and mischief to a motor vehicle in the incident. She is the third person to be sentenced.

In the days before the Sept. 3, 2020 stabbing, Williams had been on a “meth- and alcohol-induced bender,” Sullivan told the court while reading his decision, adding she hadn’t slept for 72 hours. At the time, she was under the influence of meth and Xanax.

In the hours before the stabbing, Williams was with a group of friends talking about ways to get more money to buy drugs and alcohol, Sullivan said.

She didn’t know the victim, Kevin Taylor, personally, but someone in the group identified him, he said.

“This, to me, suggests a degree of planning. This was not a random incident but rather a targeted attack motivated by a desire for money and fuelled by a need for drugs and alcohol.”

Williams, along with four other people, went to the Kristopher Campbell Memorial Skatepark, where Taylor was. The group confronted the victim, Sullivan said, and a fight broke out.

Williams slashed the tires on a vehicle with a knife before she approached the victim and stabbed him several times in the abdomen, ending the fight, he said.

While there were racial slurs hurled during the incident, Crown attorney Grant Hughes previously said they couldn’t be attributed to any of the people charged in the assault.

Sullivan called the circumstances “horrific.”

“Not only for their obvious impact on the victim but for their impact on our community in general. The attack occurred in a very public place and undermines the sense of personal safety and security any member of our community should feel on our city streets.”

Despite this, he said Williams has made a great effort to deal with her addiction while in jail and completed 38 programs. She has also gone through addictions treatment and spiritual meetings.

“All of these things are extremely important and give the court optimism about Ms. Williams’ ability to effectively manage herself once released,” Sullivan said. He told her the future is brighter if she is able to get her addictions issues under control.

During an earlier sentencing hearing, Williams told the court she was “ashamed and embarrassed.”

Hughes originally recommended a three-and-a-half-year jail sentence for the crime, while defence lawyer Bob Harrison recommended time already served.

Sullivan said he gives Williams credit for taking responsibility and pleading guilty to the crimes. The efforts are meaningful and important, and without them, the jail sentence could have been longer.

He sentenced her to a total of three years in jail for the crime, minus 885 days time served, and probation.

In January, co-accused Savannah Catagas pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to one year of supervised probation for her role in the attack. Freedom Williams pleaded guilty to assault and was sentenced to 225 days time served in jail.

The charges for Annie Huntinghawk and Steven Jason Huntinghawk are still before the court. The charges have not been heard in court and they are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

» dmay@brandonsun.com

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