An Onion Lake man accused of killing his brother-in-law in 2018 was sentenced to seven-and-half-years in prison
Chief Justice Popescul sentenced Dakota Dean Whitstone, 22, on the charge of manslaughter in Battleford Court of Queen’s Bench Nov. 13. Whitstone was charged with second-degree murder in the death of his brother-in-law Tyson Blair Crosschild, 28, from the Blood Tribe.
In September Whitstone pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. Crown Prosecutor Oryn Holm accepted the guilty plea to the lesser charge.
Defence lawyer Carl Swenson said Whitstone wanted to spare his family “the impact of coming to court and going through a grueling trial.”
Swenson said Whitstone and Crosschild “got into a fight and it went too far.”
Whitstone was given 25.5 months credit for time served while in remand awaiting trial. This means he has about 64.5 months left to serve.
RCMP were called to a home on Onion Lake Cree Nation Aug. 11, 2018, where they found Crosschild in medical distress. Police and medical personnel performed life-saving measures but Crosschild was later pronounced deceased at a hospital.
Whitstone was arrested and released on bail while waiting for trial. A few months later Alberta RCMP arrested him for firearms-related offences. On two firearms charges out of Alberta, Whitstone was sentenced to 120 days on each charge. He was then held in custody in Saskatchewan while he waited for his trial on the second-degree murder charge.
