Top court rejects appeal of Saskatoon teen sentenced as adult for 2019 Winston Littlecrow murder

Saskatchewan's top court is rejecting an appeal from a teen sentenced as an adult for a 2019 murder in Saskatoon.

The teen cannot be named because of his age at the time of the crime. He was 17 years and five months old at the time of the shooting.

"I am satisfied a youth sentence would not be long enough to provide reasonable assurance of [his]rehabilitation to the point where he can be safely reintegrated into society," provincial court Judge Sanjeev Anandwrote in an 11-pagesentencing decision in 2022.

The ruling meantthe man faceda life sentence with no parole eligibility for seven years. He would also be on parole on release.Ayouth sentence would carrya maximum of seven years, divided intofour years in custody and three years of community supervision.

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The Court of Appeal agreed with the sentencing judge's conclusion that a youth sentence was not longenough to hold the teen accountable for what he had done.

An agreed statement of facts detailed what happened Dec. 7, 2019.

The teen shot Littlecrow, 35, in the back outside a house in the 200 block of Avenue X S.after a woman who was at the housetexted him to come over and help kick out Littlecrow.

The teen and the woman werein the Terror Squad. Littlecrow was a member of the Indian Posse.

Littlecrow died on the way to hospital. The teen, originallycharged with first-degree murder,pleaded guilty to second-degree murder.

Anand wrote that the offender poseda high risk for future violence, had a poor attitude toward making any significant changes in his life and took limited steps toward his rehabilitation.