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Man who murdered girlfriend gets reduced sentence partly due to his race
Everton Javaun Downey stabbed his girlfriend, Melissa Blimkie, fifteen times in a stairwell at a shopping centre in Burnaby, BC, in 2021.
The Crown was seeking no chance for parole for at least 15 years, but B.C. Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes went with 12 years after reviewing Downey’s Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA).
“As I have indicated, Mr. Downey has a substantial criminal record involving violence and firearms. I recognize, however, that the aggravating effect of his criminal record is offset in part by the mitigating circumstances of his background, as detailed in the IRCA,” Holmes said in her Feb. 13 decision.
IRCAs are designed to “help criminal justice professionals better understand the effects of poverty, marginalization, racism, and social exclusion on Black and racialized offenders and their experiences,”
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