Woman left to die confronts ‘monster’

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This article was published 13/06/2025 (253 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

WINNIPEG — Her limbs bound with zip ties and tape, her body stuffed into a duffel bag, the petite Indigenous woman was tossed into a large metal garbage dumpster on a cold Winnipeg winter night and left to die.

The now-28-year-old woman survived her terrifying ordeal, but 18 months later, still grappling with the trauma that now consumes her life, she wishes she hadn’t.

“I wish you had killed me so I don’t have to keep living like this anymore, so I can put the pain away,” she told her attacker, Joey Audy, at a sentencing hearing Thursday.

Court heard the woman, who was described as vulnerable, lives with pre-existing mental-health and cognitive challenges. She now fears being out in public and can no longer trust men, particularly if they are Indigenous.

“A man shouldn’t put hands on our women,” she said. “Real men don’t hit women. … Clearly you are not a real man, at all. You have left me fighting for my life every single day since you brutally beat me and attempted (to) murder me.

“I look at my face and see the scars on my bottom lip where you kicked me in the face … How could you do this to an innocent person? You are a f–king monster and you will always be one to me.”

Audy, 36, has pleaded guilty to attempted murder for the unprovoked attack in December 2023.

Audy, who has a long and violent criminal record, is the last of five people charged in the incident to be dealt with by the court.

Prosecutors are recommending he be sentenced to 18 years in prison, saying his victim narrowly escaped being added to a growing list of Indigenous women in Manitoba who are murdered and discarded like garbage.

“Lest there be any doubt … this has been a life-altering experience,” Crown attorney Courtney St. Croix told provincial court Judge Rachel Rusen.

“She put on a brave face today, but it should not be lost on the court that she wishes he had killed her, that she is fighting for her life every single day because her trauma and emotional pain is unbearable.”

Details were laid out in an agreed statement of facts read out in court.

The then-26-year-old victim was waiting for a bus at Sargent Avenue and Maryland Street at about 3:30 p.m. when a man she didn’t know approached her and said, “You’re coming with me,” before pulling her onto a departing bus.

He took the victim to a Manitoba Housing complex at 24 Carlton St. and led her to a suite where he said he would give her alcohol and she could use the Wi-Fi. In attendance were apartment residents Lorde Barrios and Misty Bird, as well as Audy, Romeo Miles and Evelyn McKay.

Audy and Miles were members of the same gang and had appeared uninvited, armed with a crowbar and knife for the purpose of “recruiting” Barrios.

The woman used the washroom after she entered the suite, during which time the man who took her there left. When she reappeared, Audy asked her who had taken her there and she mistakenly identified Barrios.

“When Barrios denied knowing the victim, Audy accused the victim of being a ‘narc’ or a ‘rat,’” St. Croix told court.

Audy told McKay to search the victim for “wires” and then had the woman place her backpack and jacket in the middle of the room before he punched her in the face, knocking her to the floor.

At Audy’s instruction, McKay and Bird bound the victim with duct tape before Audy shoved her under a bed.

Audy and Miles left the suite, telling Barrios they would return later to “collect” the victim.

“Barrios, Bird and McKay argued over whether to untie the victim but decided to keep her tied up because Audy was going to return and they were fearful of him,” St. Croix said.

McKay left the apartment shortly before 7 p.m. Around 8 p.m., when Audy had not yet returned, Barrios and Bird untied the victim and took her with them to play VLTs. Barrios gave her $5 to play the machines.

Barrios, Bird and the victim returned to the apartment at 8:40 p.m. Barrios and Bird started using methamphetamine. Audy returned a short time later with another man.

“Over the next three hours, the group was socializing, drinking and doing drugs together,” St. Croix said. “Audy commented that he was going to toss the victim in the dumpster and light her up” and threatened to “hang her by a hanger.”

McKay returned to the suite shortly after midnight, and Audy told her to tie up the victim again. McKay “hog-tied” her with zip ties. Duct tape was placed over her mouth.

Audy stomped on the woman’s head and she was blindfolded before Audy and McKay forced her into a hockey bag and zipped it up.

Audy and McKay took the woman to an elevator, as Audy played music on a portable speaker to “mute (the victim’s) screams.” Once outside, they dragged the bag to a dumpster and Audy threw it inside and closed the lid.

“The victim remained quiet for a short period of time and then started screaming and banging on the dumpster,” St. Croix said. “She was trying to untie herself and panicking as she thought she was going to die.”

About a half-hour later, Barrios went outside and heard the woman screaming. He opened the dumpster lid and told the woman he would be right back. He returned an hour later with Bird and the two took her out of the bag and removed her restraints.

She was taken back to the suite, where she was provided a shower, clothing and food. The next morning, Bird helped her board a bus for the Health Sciences Centre, where staff contacted police.

Audy’s criminal record includes convictions for theft, weapon offences and crimes of violence, frequently targeting women.

He “has shown a clear propensity for violence, often in a manner that is unprovoked and targeted at victims who are vulnerable,” St. Croix said. “His actions are those of someone who has made a choice to live a violent and criminal lifestyle.”

Defence lawyer Mike Cook urged Rusen to impose an eight-year sentence, arguing a life of poverty, addictions and family dysfunction set Audy — who was born to a drug-addicted mother who years later died of an overdose — on a violent path.

“He was born suffering drug withdrawal,” Cook said. “I can’t conceive of a more difficult start in life.”

He was seized by child-welfare authorities when he was five days old and spent all of his teen years in abusive foster homes before being left to fend for himself at 19 with no supports or friends, Cook said, adding Audy spent years on the street.

Cook said it is suspected Audy lives with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder. Drug and alcohol addictions have been an issue since he was a teen.

“He’s had one of the worst upbringings I’ve ever seen … I don’t think I’ve (represented) a more tragic figure,” he told Rusen.

Audy also pleaded guilty to an unrelated charge of robbery, for which both the Crown and defence agreed he should be sentenced to an additional two years in prison.

Rusen will sentence Audy at a later date.

» Winnipeg Free Press