'Life without my girl is unbearable': Parents tell court of devastation after daughter's brutal beating death
Kelly Malone | CBC News | Posted: January 19, 2018 9:59 PM | Last Updated: January 19, 2018
Kashtin Martin, Nikina Houle were found guilty of manslaughter in the 2016 death of Mavis Ducharme
The parents of a woman who was beaten to death were devastated when they were told about the terrible way their daughter died, a Winnipeg courtroom heard during victim impact statements on Friday morning.
"Life without my girl is unbearable at times. I pray for her," the statement from Ken and Gloria Ducharme said.
Mavis Ducharme, 39, died after a brutal assault in Winnipeg's North End in 2016.
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In November, Kashtin Martin, 25, and Nikina Houle, 25, were found guilty of manslaughter in Ducharme's death in a judge-only trial at Court of Queen's bench.
Court previously heard that on Feb. 6, 2016, Martin and Houle stormed through the door at the house where Ducharme, her partner and her children lived. They were there to collect on a drug debt, court heard.
At first, Martin attacked and beat Ducharme's partner before turning his attention to her, court heard. Ducharme was able to get away from Martin when he turned back to her partner and she ran to a nearby house.
But Martin and Houle followed her.
Crown prosecutor Michael Desautels told court that Martin found Ducharme at the second home, saying "there you are, you little b---h. How did I know you were going to be here?" He then continued to beat her, court heard.
Ducharme had seven broken ribs, a pulverized liver and a nearly severed kidney. Desautels said it was a "violent attack on a vulnerable victim."
Crown wants 15 years
In the victim impact statement, read in court Friday by Desautels, Ducharme's parents said that it was traumatizing and difficult to hear about the violence wrought on their daughter that led to her death. They added their hearts ache for their grandchildren, who witnessed the violent attack.
"I just want justice for my girl," they said.
Ducharme's family filled the chairs in the courtroom, occasionally leaving to cry in the hallway.
Martin also broke down in tears upon hearing how the death impacted the family, who court heard he had lived with at one point.
Houle's lawyer, Gregory Brodsky, is seeking a suspended sentence with supervised probation for his client. He told court that Houle had just followed her boyfriend around as he did the beating.
Queen's Court Justice Chris Martin responded that it was more than that, and he had already ruled that she abetted in the death.
The Crown is asking for a four-year sentence for Houle.
When she had an opportunity to speak, Houle apologized to Ducharme's family, and her own, in court.
"Every day [I] wish this didn't happen," she said.
Martin declined to comment. His lawyer, Evan Roitenberg, is asking for a sentence of eight to nine years, but the Crown is asking for 15 years.
The judge will deliver his sentence in February.