A manslaughter charge has been stayed against a Red Deer County woman accused of shooting her husband to death last February.
Robin Berresford was charged with first-degree murder after RCMP responded to a call on Feb. 27, 2019, to the Balmoral Heights home she shared with her husband, Matthew Berresford, and their two children.
When police arrived at the house just east of Red Deer, they found her husband dead.
Following a preliminary hearing last December, Berresford was ordered to stand trial on the lesser charge of manslaughter with a firearm.
A trial was to begin May 10, 2021.
Red Deer chief Crown prosecutor Dominique Mathurin confirmed Tuesday the charge has been stayed.
Crown prosecutors can revive the charge within a year, but that rarely happens.
“I reviewed the disclosure and made the determination that there was no reasonable likelihood of conviction based on the evidence on file,” said Mathurin in an email.
“Crown had the benefit of statements from numerous witnesses, forensic evidence and also statements from Mrs. Berreford. All of that evidence was thoroughly reviewed and a decision was made to stay the charge.”