Sentencing underway for Winnipeg man convicted of killing five people in Langside Street shooting

Crown attorneys are seeking five concurrent life sentences for a man convicted of fatally shooting five people in the West Broadway neighbourhood three years ago.

Jamie Felix was convicted of five counts of second-degree murder in March in what Crown attorneys described as the “enormously violent and intentional killings of five people”.

The court heard Felix fired nine shots in about eight seconds in a suite of what has been described in court as a “drug house” on Langside Street in November 2023, killing Dylan Lavallee, Shawn Marko, Melelek Lesikel, and sisters Crystal Beardy and Stephanie Beardy. Two people died on scene, while two others died later in hospital. Marko, the fifth victim, was severely injured and died 18 months later in hospital.

On Tuesday, Felix sat mainly emotionless during the proceedings, but occasionally smiled and acknowledged some people in the gallery. Crown counsel recommended five concurrent life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years. Second-degree murder holds a mandatory life sentence with a minimum parole eligibility of 10 years. But Crown attorney Chantal Boutin argued Felix’s offences justify the maximum period of 25 years before being eligible for parole.

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Boutin also outlined Felix’s lengthy list of violent altercations while being incarcerated, his lack of accountability, and his tendency for unprovoked extreme violence when angered or stressed. She noted friends and family know a side of Felix that is “polite and happy-go-lucky”. But the other side of him, Boutin says, the public needs to be protected from.

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Boutin also acknowledged the findings of a pre-sentence that outlined challenges in Felix’s life, including intergenerational trauma, childhood violence, substance abuse, and the murder of his twin brother in 2012, but argued those factors do not negate the choices he made. The court heard Felix is Anishinaabe and identifies as a member of Berens River First Nation.

During the trial, the Crown argued Felix was driven by paranoia after days of drinking alcohol and smoking crack. Court also heart he admitted the killings to a former girlfriend and said he had tried to shoot himself afterward, but had run out of bullets.

Boutin became emotional at times while reading victim impacts on behalf of family members, including Lesikel’s mother, who says the pain of losing her son is unbearable.

“It is like part of your own body has been cut out and thrown away, never to be restored again,” the statement on behalf of Theresa Nduku said.

“When you killed my daughters, it put a big hole in my heart,” Beverley Beardy, the mother of Crystal and Stephanie Beardy, said in court.

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“They had their whole lives ahead of them. Justice will never be served. You took five beautiful lives, whatever you get is not justice.”

Roberta Owen, Stephanie and Crystal’s aunt, said her nieces were both mothers.

“(They) had beautiful children who are now motherless,” she told court through tears.

Melissa Marko, Shawn Marko’s sister, says her family endured 18 agonizing months before her brother died. She says her brother suffered from devastating injuries throughout those months.

“My father and I don’t sleep well,” she said. “We try to sleep, but we constantly see Shawn’s face when we close our eyes.”

“I don’t think we will ever be the people we were before.”

Defence lawyers are expected to make their recommendations on Thursday.