Youth pleads guilty in man's death by gunshot to the head in Regina

Hannah Spray · CBC News

· Posted: Jun 16, 2025 5:01 PM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

A younker who killed a antheral successful Regina by shooting him successful the caput has been sentenced to a three-year intensive attraction plan.

The intensive rehabilitative custody and supervision (IRCS) plan volition dwell of 2 years successful custody and 1 twelvemonth successful the community, connected apical of the twelvemonth helium has already spent successful jail.

The 17-year-old pleaded blameworthy to manslaughter for causing the decease of 18-year-old Gregory Severight, who died connected Dec. 21, 2023, aft helium was recovered injured extracurricular a location connected the 1300 artifact of Retallack Street.

The antheral youth, who was 15 astatine the clip of the offence, cannot beryllium named nether the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act. 

He was sentenced connected May 28 successful Regina Court of King's Bench aft pleading guilty, admitting that "he fired a changeable successful the absorption of Mr. Severight, without the volition of sidesplitting him," according to the agreed connection of facts filed successful court.

The Crown and defence jointly projected the three-year IRCS sentence, which Justice Catherine Dawson accepted.

The agreed facts outline that Severight died from a fatal gunshot coiled to his caput but constabulary had fewer leads until a witnesser came guardant two-and-a-half weeks later. The witnesser told constabulary astir "some kid" who had shown up astatine a location asking for assistance to get escaped of a gun. 

The younker said helium "took idiosyncratic for a ungraded nap," the witnesser said.

Police captured Facebook posts from the youth's relationship that appeared to besides notation a killing. They arrested him connected Jan. 24, 2024.

Mother was murdered

The judge's written determination includes a summary of the youth's upbringing, including outlining applicable Gladue factors – which are taken into relationship during sentencing and assistance explicate an Indigenous person's history, their family's past and their community's past to the courts.

The youth's gramps was sent to residential school, and his parent was removed from her biologic household and adopted by a achromatic family, earlier being sent to a residential schoolhouse herself.

The younker spent his archetypal fewer years with his household connected a First Nation successful confederate Saskatchewan but aft his parents separated, helium moved to Regina with his mother, who struggled financially and joined a gang.

The younker was apprehended from his parent erstwhile helium was 10, the justice wrote. Then his parent was brutally murdered by different pack members erstwhile the younker was 12 years old. He "never truly dealt with the decease of his mother" and started to usage intoxicant and marijuana to cope.

He returned astatine 1 constituent to unrecorded with his begetter connected the First Nation, past to Regina to unrecorded with an uncle, and stayed for a clip with his grandfather. He besides was placed astatine younker radical homes, but ran distant from the past 1 and was surviving with his woman astatine the clip of the offence.

The IRCS sentence

The intent of an IRCS condemnation is "to supply a young idiosyncratic with the indispensable attraction needed to guarantee the youth's effectual rehabilitation and reintegration into society," the justice wrote successful her decision.

Each IRCS condemnation is individually designed and consists of a acceptable clip successful custody and past a 2nd play that's fractional arsenic long, served successful the assemblage taxable to conditions. The maximum IRCS condemnation is 2 years successful custody and 1 twelvemonth successful the community.

Recommended attraction during the assemblage information includes substance maltreatment intervention, acquisition and vocational planning, life-skills training, a unit prevention program and psychiatric/psychological care. Mental wellness counselling and readying for reintegration volition besides beryllium portion of the programming portion the younker is successful custody.

If the younker breaches the conditions during the 2nd portion of the sentence, helium could beryllium required to service the remainder of that play successful custody, arsenic well.

"It is wide that [the youth] needs to mature truthful that helium tin constructively code his galore issues," the justice wrote. "He requires intensive counselling and ongoing acquisition to hole himself for his eventual re-entry into society. I americium satisfied this tin beryllium appropriately provided done an IRCS sentence."