woman told police she spontaneously stabbed tyla whitebird because she was being 'annoying'
vianna gracie moberly said she became angry enough to "black out" and stab whitebird until she stopped moving, a saskatoon courtroom heard.
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tyla whitebird, 20, was described as a strong, trusting woman who wanted to help others like herself. she was stabbed to death in saskatoon's southwest industrial area on christmas day 2023. (gofundme)
sas
tyla whitebird and the woman who spontaneously stabbed her while the pair walked together through a field on christmas day lived “parallel lives,” a saskatoon provincial courtroom heard.
“unfortunately, one of them ended tragically,” crown prosecutor aaron martens said, reading out the facts during wednesday’s sentencing hearing for vianna gracie moberly.
whitebird and moberly, both 20, are young indigenous women who endured difficult childhoods and struggled with substance use disorders, court heard. they were staying at the saskatoon tribal council’s wellness centre, where they met. moberly has been on her own since she was 17, living on the street, her lawyer said.
moberly expresses her emotions through drawing; whitebird loved writing and music. she would play the same song on repeat until he started to like it, her uncle and caregiver, bradford whitebird, told court through a victim impact statement.
he said the last time they spoke, they were excited to spend christmas together.
whitebird was found dead in a grassy area on malouf road near jonathon avenue in the city’s southwest industrial area on dec. 26, 2023. an open notebook with the stc wellness centre number written inside was beside her bloody body, martens said.
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surveillance video from the wellness centre showed moberly and whitebird leaving the facility together around 8 p.m. the previous night. moberly arrived back at the shelter around 11:15 p.m., alone.
after her arrest, moberly gave a full confession. she told police they drank alcohol and used meth with some men in a truck. she said she took a knife from the truck before she and whitebird got out and started walking through a field.
moberly attacked whitebird from behind because she thought the victim was being “annoying,” martens said. she got angry enough to “black out” and stab her until she stopped moving, court heard. she then threw the knife, which was later recovered, into a manhole.
moberly was charged with second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter. martens said although intoxication was a factor in the killing, it was moberly’s significant mental health issues that would make it difficult for the crown to prove she had the intent required for murder.
“rather than go through a long and complex trial with competing expert evidence, and put the family through a distressing ordeal with an uncertain result, counsel agreed that a guilty plea to manslaughter was appropriate in the circumstances of this case,” martens said.
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judge stephen carter has reserved his sentencing decision until sept. 5.
martens argued for an 11-year manslaughter sentence — at the higher end of the four- to -12 year range — because the killing was a “near murder.”
court heard moberly has fasd, adhd, ocd, borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. her impulsivity and anger issues combined with drug-induced psychosis makes her a high risk to reoffend, and a lengthy prison term will ensure she receives adequate treatment, martens said.
defence lawyer ian wagner said moberly, who has no prior criminal record, has empathy but “cannot get the empathy working appropriately” when she is upset and intoxicated. she knows she needs help with that, he added.
at times, moberly sat motionless in the prisoner’s box. at others, she began to cry.
“i regret everything i did and i feel really bad right now,” she said when given a chance to speak.
“i think this young woman can have a future if she gets the right assistance while in custody,” wagner said, arguing for eight years.
whitebird’s mother figure, erin beckwell, said she’d always hoped whitebird’s circumstances would improve despite her challenges. she had just completed a substance abuse intake program in estevan. she eagerly shared stories with beckwell’s social work class; she wanted to help people who were like her.
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“she deserved the opportunity to try and recover and move into adulthood,” beckwell said.
editor’s note: this story was edited to reflect that the crown argued for an 11-year manslaughter sentence. the 13-year proposed sentence published in a previous version of this story included a two-year sentence for a separate arson charge.
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