Woman involved in violent robbery sent to prison

A woman was sentenced to 42 months in prison on Tuesday for her part in a violent robbery that left a man with “deep lacerations” to his extremities.

“It’s a serious amount of time in custody, reflecting a very serious incident here,” Judge Patrick Sullivan said in Brandon provincial court.

“Someone was hurt. Someone could have been easily hurt worse, and you were part of that,” he said.

Sasha McAskie, 39, pleaded guilty to the charges of robbery and failing to attend court at the beginning of her sentencing hearing.

Crown attorney Ron Toews read the facts of the March 6 robbery.

The Brandon Police Service received a call from 911 about a “machete and knife attack” in a room at the Midway Hotel. When police arrived, they found the victim, “who had suffered severe, deep lacerations to his left arm, left hand and right leg,” Toews said.

The suspects had already left the scene, and an ambulance transported the victim to the hospital.

The police conducted a canine check, which led them to a gas station on Highland Avenue. Employees of the gas station told police that three people had just left in a taxi.

“Police obtained a good-quality video from the motel which showed three suspects, one with a machete and one with a large knife, enter the motel room and leave shortly after with a backpack and a bundle of cash,” Toews said.

The taxi company told police the three people were getting dropped off. When police arrived, they saw a taxi on the street and two people that matched the suspects’ descriptions getting into it.

Police stopped the taxi and found Tiah McKay-Catcheway and Ethan Cook inside. Officers arrested them and found out which residence they were leaving from.

When officers went to the residence and called for anybody inside to come out, three women, including McAskie, emerged.

“McAskie was later determined to be the third suspect, as she could be identified by the video,” Toews said.

McAskie had $680 in cash on her, and she was arrested.

“Within the residence that she had emerged from, the police recovered a stolen backpack, a machete and a knife, as well as clothing that had been worn at the time of the robbery.”

While she made some denials about being involved in the robbery at first, she quickly accepted responsibility, Toews said.

Toews said that McAskie was armed with a knife during the robbery, but that the Crown accepted that she did not cause the injuries to the victim.

He said it’s troubling that McAskie was convicted of the similar offence of armed robbery in 2020.

The Crown and defence jointly recommended a sentence of 42 months for the robbery charge and a concurrent 30 days for failing to attend court.

Defence lawyer Cat Rogers said McAskie had significant Gladue factors, with her mother being a residential school survivor and experiencing addictions. She said McAskie never knew her father.

She said she was apprehended by Child and Family Services when she was six years old and bounced between group homes and living with her mom in the following years.

“Miss McAskie had just a terrible lack of stability,” Rogers said.

She said the biggest struggle for McAskie has been her addiction issues.

“She’s had a major addiction to cocaine since she was about 19 years old, off and on, and that’s really been the root of her issues,” she said. “She’s also diagnosed with ADHD and PTSD and a mood disorder.”

Rogers said McAskie has three children and she does everything she can to be a good mother to them when she’s not in custody.

“It’s obviously going to be painful to be away from them, because you can’t be a mother when you’re going to prison,” Rogers said.

McAskie told the court she’s “too old for this.”

“I need to rewire my brain, because my muscle memory always goes back to what I know,” she said. “I’m so tired of it.”

She said one day she would like to look the victim in the eyes and tell him that she’s sorry.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com