A Regina woman has received a 12-year prison sentence for brutally stabbing a woman she had just met at a home in the city.
Melanie Bird was originally charged with second-degree murder in the stabbing death of 37-year-old Heather Lavallee of Regina. On Friday, Bird pleaded guilty to a lesser charge of manslaughter at Court of Queen’s Bench in Regina.
Calling the killing of Lavallee “a senseless act of brutality,” Justice Ellen Gunn accepted a joint submission from Crown and defence lawyers for the 12-year sentence. With credit for time on remand, Bird will spend just under 10 years behind bars.
The court heard Bird was intoxicated when she knocked on the door of a home in the 1800 block of Atkinson Street in the early morning hours of April 19, 2013.
She asked the man who answered the door for pills. He said he had none and told her to ask Lavallee, who was sitting in the living room doing crossword puzzles.
Crown prosecutor Sonya Guiboche said there was a verbal exchange between the two women and Bird stabbed Lavallee 10 times with a large butcher knife from the kitchen.
Lavallee was taken to hospital, where she died of excessive blood loss a short time later.
While the victim’s family chose not to file victim impact statements, Guiboche described Lavallee as a loving mother and grandmother who enjoyed cooking and listening to music.
“Her death was both senseless and tragic,” Guiboche said.
Defence lawyer James Struthers said Bird began using drugs and alcohol at an early age following the death of her mother.
"The loss of her mother hit Melanie hard," Struthers told the court. "Her life seemed to spiral out of control."
Bird admitted to the killing in her statement to police, and wrote a letter of apology on the day of her arrest.
“I took the life of a woman I never knew,” Bird wrote in the letter. “This is truly a senseless act.”
