Manslaughter plea in sister’s stabbing death

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This article was published 21/05/2025 (309 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Sioux Valley man who was scheduled to go on trial for second-degree murder in the stabbing death of his half-sister pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter on Tuesday morning.

Ernest Michael Blacksmith, Jr., who was 20 at the time of his arrest in November 2022, stood before Justice Scott Abel in Court of King’s Bench in Brandon as he entered his guilty plea for the manslaughter of Aimee-Jo Antoine, 30.

“It’s a very unusual fact scenario,” said Crown attorney Jay Funke. “The family of the victim is also the family of the accused.”

He gave Penny Antoine, the mother of both the accused and the victim, a moment to leave the room before he started to read the agreed statement of facts.

On Nov. 19, 2022, the victim, the accused and their uncle, Bruce Blacksmith, all shared a residence with Penny in Sioux Valley Dakota Nation.

In the afternoon, Bruce drove Antoine to a store in Alexander, where Aimee-Jo bought a 60-ounce bottle of Smirnoff vodka and a case of Twisted Tea. They returned to their home at around 3 p.m.

Once they returned, Aimee-Jo, Ernest, Bruce and Penny began drinking. Bruce was drinking the Twisted Tea, while the rest of them drank the vodka.

Bruce left at around 6 p.m. Before leaving, he said he had seen Ernest and Aimee-Jo arguing, but he characterized it as a brother and sister argument. He said Ernest was extremely intoxicated, Funke told the court.

Penny went to her room to sleep but woke up to the sound of screaming coming from the living room. She got out of bed, into her wheelchair and immediately went to the living room. She saw Aimee-Jo on the couch with her legs positioned in front of her.

Ernest was in front of the couch with a knife in his right hand, yelling at the Aimee-Jo.

Penny positioned herself in front of Aimee-Jo, but Ernest stabbed Aimee-Jo in the legs multiple times while he yelled at both women, Funke said.

Penny called 911 at 6:21 p.m. In total, three 911 calls were recorded.

Virden RCMP were dispatched and they arrived at the scene at 6:50 p.m.

Police identified Ernest Blacksmith, who was at that time standing in the driveway. Police arrested Blacksmith and took him into custody.

Police entered the home and saw Antoine unconscious on the living room floor and a significant amount of blood on the floor near the couch. Police started CPR on Antoine until EMS arrived shortly after.

EMS noticed Antoine’s pants were drenched in blood and saw two wounds on her right leg — one on her upper thigh and one below her knee.

EMS wasn’t able to resuscitate Aimee-Jo Antoine, and she was pronounced dead at 7:34 p.m.

The next day a search warrant was authorized and RCMP went to the scene to begin taking photos and processing the scene.

Evidence seized from the residence included a kitchen knife, a serrated butcher knife, two cellphones, a black Apple iPad and a partially full 1.75-litre bottle of Smirnoff vodka.

An analysis of the knives confirmed that the DNA matched that of Blacksmith, Funke said.

Antoine’s body was transported to the Health Sciences Centre in Winnipeg, where a doctor performed an autopsy. They determined Antoine’s cause of death was multiple sharp force injuries. She had stab wounds in each of her legs and left shoulder.

A toxicology report on Dec. 7, 2022, showed that Antoine’s blood alcohol content at the time of her death was 0.145 per cent. She also had amphetamine and methamphetamine in her system.

Police obtained a recorded statement from Blacksmith on Nov. 20, 2022, in which he acknowledged he was intoxicated on the day of the incident and that he was drinking straight from the bottle of vodka. He said he had “way too much.”

In his statement, he didn’t admit to stabbing Antoine, but he told the police that Antoine brought up his father and he “lost his shit.”

Police said there were two videos and multiple photos uploaded from a snapchat account with his name.

Police conducted a forensic examination of the electronic devices from the residence. There were several messages sent from Blacksmith to his former girlfriend shortly after the stabbing.

Blacksmith is scheduled for sentencing on Feb. 6, 2026.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com