EDMONTON — The last of the convicted killers in the golf course sex-slaying of 13-year-old Nina Courtepatte was sentenced Friday, but it brought the girl’s mother no satisfaction.
The 20-year-old accused, who was 16 at the time of Courtepatte’s slaying April 3, 2005, was handed the maximum sentence available for a youth convicted of second-degree murder.
The woman will spend the next four years behind bars, likely at a provincial adult facility, and then will be supervised for three years in the community.
Nina’s mother, Peacha Atkinson, said she was not satisfied with the sentence because she wanted the accused treated as an adult by the courts.
“To me, she should have still got the adult sentence and had to serve life in prison,” said Atkinson.
Court of Queen’s Bench Justice Adam Germain said the maximum youth court sentence was necessary to hold the killer “accountable” and he also refused to give her credit for the four years she has already spent in custody.
“I conclude that nothing but a sentence in the maximum range will suffice,” said Germain.
He said the woman will have spent over eight years in custody at the end of her sentence, noting the Crown could also apply to have her three years of supervision served in jail.
Last week, the judge dismissed a Crown application to have the woman sentenced as an adult, ruling she was not a key perpetrator in the sexual assault and killing, she was not involved in the planning and was young and immature.