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Vulnerable women sent to jail for fatal beating in case Winnipeg judge calls 'dreadful, yet not uncommon'
Two intellectually vulnerable women who beat a man to death have been handed jail sentences that will allow them to serve their time in Manitoba, avoiding longer federal sentences prosecutors asked for that would have sent them to serve their time outside the province.
Cherilyn Dumas, 22, and Calianna Keeper, 21, were initially charged with second-degree murder in the death of Derek Karl Stevenson, 33, whose body was found in a rooming house on Austin Street N. in Winnipeg's Point Douglas area on Nov. 1, 2023, after a drunken fight that turned deadly, court heard Friday.
Both women later pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter, based on their intoxication at the time of the killing, Manitoba Court of King's Bench Justice Chris Martin said as he read his sentencing decision in a Winnipeg courtroom.
Dumas, who court heard played a bigger role in the beating and hit Stevenson with a frying pan, was sentenced to four years and six months — and with enhanced credit for time served factored in, will serve just under two more years.
Keeper was sentenced to four years, which means 18 more months in custody.
After they're released, Dumas and Keeper will also be on supervised probation for three years.
In handing down his sentence, the judge noted both women's lives have been marked by "significant psychological, intellectual, cognitive and addiction challenges," as well as childhood trauma and involvement with the child welfare system.
"The circumstances of Mr. Stevenson's death and the personal backgrounds of Ms. Keeper and Ms. Dumas are dreadful, yet not uncommon to the court," Martin said, saying a federal sentence "would be adverse" by removing the women from any supports and family they have in Manitoba.
The judge noted while both women have criminal records and were assessed as high risks to reoffend, they also co-operated with police, pleaded guilty and showed remorse — and are both young Indigenous women "affected by numerous personal, psychological and cognitive issues."
Court heard Dumas has a full-scale IQ below 70 and has been diagnosed with a number of conditions, including an intellectual disability, while Keeper has an IQ below 50 and has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, alongside several other disorders.
The women were separately brought into court Friday in shackles, and listened quietly from the prisoner's box as their sentences were handed down, a sheriffs' officer sitting between them.
Martin said while none of Stevenson's family attended court to speak on his behalf or submitted a victim impact statement, "the Crown indicated his family was impacted by his death."
'Best friend'
An agreed statement of facts said the three are seen on surveillance video going to Dumas's address together on the evening of Oct. 29, 2023.
Stevenson and the two women were drinking in Dumas's apartment and a fight broke out, leading Dumas to punch Stevenson and hit him several times with a frying pan, court heard.
Keeper told police while she kicked Stevenson three times in the face as he tried to get up, she also at times told Dumas to stop the beating, the agreed statement of facts said.
Eventually, Dumas and Keeper passed out on a bed, while Stevenson passed out on the floor beside them, still breathing. But when the women woke up, Stevenson was "cold" and they realized he was dead, the statement of facts said.
Dumas put a blanket over him, while Keeper called her support worker from Dumas's cellphone and left the suite when the worker arrived. Dumas, who described Stevenson as her "best friend," told police she didn't remember what started the fight.
After Keeper left, Dumas continued drinking in the suite until the body began to smell, then went to her mom's home and told her what happened "because she no longer wanted to be alone with Stevenson's body," the court document said.
Dumas's mom came back to her apartment with her daughter after getting more alcohol, the statement said. The women then drank the alcohol and started cleaning up some of the blood.
At 2:27 a.m. on Nov. 1, 2023, Dumas's mom's stepdad called 911 to report the body in Dumas's apartment. Dumas's mom then took the phone and said she had seen the body there, and that Dumas told her that she and Keeper had beaten the man to death.
Police arrived and arrested Dumas, while Keeper was arrested the following day. Court heard an autopsy determined Stevenson bled to death from lacerations to his head caused by the frying pan.
Prosecutors had asked for sentences of nine years for Dumas and seven for Keeper — which would have amounted to another 6½ years and 4½ years, respectively, in federal custody, Martin said.
Keeper's lawyers requested a sentence between 32 and 48 months (or 12 to 18 with time served factored in), while Dumas's asked for a 54-month sentence (or just under two years going forward), court heard.
