N.W.T. man to serve remainder of youth murder sentence in federal penitentiary

A Fort Smith, N.W.T., man serving a youth sentence for murder will spend the remaining years of his sentence in an adult federal penitentiary.

The man was initially placed at the North Slave Correctional Centre (NSCC). Last month, N.W.T. Supreme Court Justice Shannon Smallwood agreed to the man's request to be transferred to a federal prison outside the territory, where he may have access to more mental health services and programming.

"The prospects for rehabilitation for [the man] if he remains at NSCC are limited," Smallwood wrote. "If his risk can be managed, the best chance to do so is in a federal penitentiary."

The man was 17 when he broke into a garage in Fort Smith and shot a man who he encountered inside. He had stolen the shotgun he used to murder the man, Jordan Tourangeau, from another garage he had broken into earlier that night.

Though now 20, the man cannot be identified because he was a youth at the time he committed the crimes. The same night, he broke into a government building, where he stole more firearms, ammunition and vehicle keys. He also fired shots into a home where children were present.

The man was sentenced to the maximum sentence allowable for second-degree murder under the Youth Criminal Justice Act: four years in custody followed by three years of supervision in the community.

In her decision, Smallwood wrote that the man is "currently a risk to himself, to other inmates and correctional officers and, once he is released from custody, to members of the public."

She wrote that he has numerous diagnoses, including fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder and oppositional defiant disorder. His parents abused alcohol when he was young resulting in him being apprehended by social services as an infant. By the time he was 14, he had been in five group homes and three foster care homes.

The written decision allowing the man to be moved to an adult penitentiary notes that he had 38 previous youth convictions prior to the murder. He had been out of jail for about a month when he killed Tourangeau.

While awaiting sentencing for the murder, he was moved to a youth jail in Whitehorse when Yellowknife was evacuated in 2023 due to wildfires. Using a homemade knife, he escaped custody there, but was later caught.

According to the written decision, the man is physically intimidating, standing six feet one inch tall and weighing 350 pounds. In the decision, the warden who oversees both adult and youth jails in Yellowknife said the man assaulted another young offender in the youth facility and behaved in an aggressive, disrespectful and intimidating way toward staff.

He was moved to the adult facility at the North Slave Correctional Centre in 2023 and is believed to have assaulted other inmates there on at least seven occasions and repeatedly violated the rules of the jail. According to the decision, he has also made multiple attempts to harm or kill himself.

In her decision, Smallwood wrote that rehabilitation is a "critical factor" that has to be considered in order for the man to eventually reintegrate into the community.

"He will need significant intervention and support while in custody and following his release," she wrote.