Knife attack on pregnant woman nets 5 years in prison

A woman who stabbed a pregnant woman in downtown Brandon in 2024 and told police she intended to kill her has been sentenced to five years in prison.

“This was a very serious offence … but for a twist of fate, the victim might have died,” Justice Elliot Leven said while delivering his sentence in Brandon’s Court of King’s Bench on Monday.

Brooke Parisian, 23, previously pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

The Crown recommended a sentence of seven years, while defence argued for a sentence in the range of time-served — the equivalent of about three and a half years — to five years.

Crown attorney Grant Hughes detailed the facts of the offence.

On Jan. 5, 2024, the Brandon Police Service received a report of a stabbing in progress outside of the now-closed Blue Door drop-in centre on Ninth Street.

When officers arrived, the victim was inside the drop-in centre with staff and had a small puncture wound to her right shoulder. The Crown said it was later determined she was 33 weeks pregnant.

Staff members identified the assailant and within minutes, police arrested Parisian.

The victim and two witnesses gave statements to police, and all confirmed that the victim was outside the Blue Door when Parisian came up to her from behind with a knife and stabbed her in the right shoulder, court heard.

When Parisian advanced on the victim again, a staff member of the Blue Door intercepted and took the knife from her.

Police found a second knife on Parisian while arresting her, Hughes said.

In a statement to police, Parisian said she intended to kill the victim by stabbing her in the throat but missed when she swung, Hughes said. He said the victim was wearing a heavy parka, and the knife got caught in her hood, which caused Parisian to miss the victim’s neck.

“She also disclosed that she had acquired the two serrated kitchen knives in her possession approximately two weeks prior to ‘stab someone up,’” Hughes said.

Court heard Parisian told police she had plans to kill the victim, but they weren’t specifically for that day. She also said there was a second woman she wanted to stab, but there were too many people around by that point, the Crown said.

Hughes said Parisian told the probation officer who wrote her pre-sentence report that around six months before the offence, she had gotten the victim high twice in one week, and the victim didn’t thank Parisian, “so, I didn’t like her.”

The Crown said Parisian minimized the offence and referred to a point in her pre-sentence report when she said, “I didn’t hurt her, I just poked a hole in her jacket” and “I thought I was going to kill her, but I wasn’t really trying.”

Hughes said defence had ordered a forensic report to determine whether she was eligible to raise a defence of not criminally responsible.

However, the report writer stated that Parisian’s comments indicated that she was aware of the nature and potential consequence of her actions, along with the fact that she would be arrested and her actions were legally wrong.

Despite having several mental-illness diagnoses, Hughes said the report stated that Parisian’s behaviour was consistent with substance-induced disinhibition rather than due to a primary mental disorder, the Crown said.

“Miss Parisian needs to know that the actions she took that day were not acceptable under any circumstances,” Hughes said. “She endangered the life of the victim and came very close to taking that life in a planned assault with a knife. She doesn’t appear to have realized the effects that her actions have had on the victim and society at large.”

Defence lawyer Bob Harrison said the court must take Parisian’s guilty plea, Gladue factors, age and mental-health issues into consideration when determining an appropriate sentence.

“We can’t forget rehabilitation,” he said.

Harrison said Parisian was young at the time and “clearly wasn’t in a good place when this happened,” which is why he ordered the forensic assessment. She is currently on medication for schizophrenia, he said.

Parisian grew up in foster homes, and at the time of the offence she was homeless and living at the Safe and Warm Shelter, Harrison said.

While Parisian maintained she was sober at the time of the offence, Harrison said she was using crystal methamphetamine in that time span and it most likely would have still been in her system.

He noted that while she does have a criminal record, there are no convictions for violence.

Harrison emphasized his client’s mental-health issues and said there are also intellectual concerns, as she has a low IQ.

Once released, she plans to stay away from drugs along with people who use them, he said.

Leven said that while there’s no such thing in law as “almost” or “near” not criminally responsible, these facts would fall into that category.

“The mental challenges of the accused are extreme, not just serious,” he said.

» sanderson@brandonsun.com