Kyla LaPointe's killer sentenced, but prison term not long enough, family says
Judge approves recommended 10-year sentence for Dylan Jackson
Nicole Blanchard voiced disappointment with the 10-year prison sentence imposed Thursday on the man who admits killing her 32-year-old daughter.
Blanchard said she would have preferred a trial on the second-degree murder charge Dylan Jackson originally faced. The Doaktown man pleaded guilty and was sentenced on the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Jackson, 30, admitted he stabbed LaPointe in the back and left her bleeding on a Moncton street on July 11, 2023.
"Of course I'm not happy," Blanchard told reporters. "Even if it had been 25 years, it wouldn't have been enough to bring my daughter back. I'm very disappointed in the justice system."
Court of King's Bench Justice Jean-Paul Ouellette imposed the sentence jointly recommended by the Crown prosecutor and Jackson's defence lawyer. The judge noted the Supreme Court of Canada has ruled there's a high threshold to be met to deviate from such recommendations.
Manslaughter has no minimum sentence as it can apply in circumstances ranging from accident to near murder. The judge said LaPointe's unprovoked killing, with a knife used to stab her in the back, brought Jackson's case closer to murder.
The judge said the court must impose a sentence that is similar to those issued in other cases with similar circumstances, with 10 years falling within that range, although some sentences have been slightly higher.
"I have reviewed the case law noted above that sets the high range, which would have been more appropriate had it not been a joint submission by counsel," Ouellette said.
He said mitigating factors included Jackson's guilty plea, age and Indigenous background with a traumatic upbringing that saw him start to use meth and fentanyl as a teenager. Jackson was high and drinking at the time of LaPointe's death, the judge said.
Ultimately, the judge said he agreed with the recommended 10-year sentence. The term will be reduced by 2½ years as credit for time Jackson has already spent in custody since his arrest moments after LaPointe was killed.
The judge said Jackson had a criminal record dating back to 2015 that included charges of assault, break and enter, breaching probation, using a firearm and kidnapping.
It's a record that Blanchard said added to her anger in how the case was handled.
"I really thought today when they read out how dangerous an offender he is, with his background with kidnapping and violent crimes, that he would have got a lot more than that," she told reporters.
On Tuesday, Ouellette heard victim impact statements from LaPointe's friends and family, including one of her four children. The judge said Thursday that he was grateful to hear from them, saying they had expressed grief, outage and loss.
Ouellette recounted the facts Jackson admits about what led to LaPointe's death.
Jackson and LaPointe were part of a group of five that travelled from Fredericton to Moncton to buy fentanyl. The group had pooled $1,400 for the fentanyl.
LaPointe and her boyfriend, Brody Leblanc, went to the drug dealer's apartment while Jackson and Megan Marten waited in a car with another man. The transaction took longer than expected, and LaPointe left and wandered around Moncton and Dieppe, the judge said.
Eventually, she walked past the car on Belleview Avenue where the three others were waiting. What followed was captured on video. Jackson ran up behind her, stabbed her immediately, then went back to the car.
Marten walked up to LaPointe, standing beside her for about two minutes as she bled on the street. The judge said Marten seemed to be looking for money or drugs. Neither Jackson nor Marten provided care or called for help as LaPointe bled. A neighbour called 911.
Marten drove the car up to LaPointe's body, Jackson retrieved the knife, and the three fled the scene. RCMP stopped the car moments later.
All three were charged with second-degree murder. The Crown dropped the charge against the third man, Jackson pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and Marten recently pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact. A sentencing hearing for Marten is scheduled for April 10.
About a dozen friends and family of LaPointe were in the courtroom gallery for the sentencing, many wearing purple which Blanchard noted was LaPointe's favourite colour. Blanchard said LaPointe was well-loved.
Several of those who read victim impact statements earlier in the week were candid about LaPointe's struggle with drugs.
"Just because some family member have struggles doesn't mean they're any less to the family," Blanchard said to reporters.
There were more sheriffs in the courtroom than normal, with several sitting around Jackson's family. Several of the people sitting with LaPointe's family shouted words as Jackson was led out of the court and toward his family.
The sheriffs immediately escorted his family out of the courtroom after Ouellete's decision, and then outside as they waited for a taxi.
Jackson was ordered to have no direct or indirect contact with LaPointe's family while serving his sentence.
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