‘The most beautiful spirit.’ Friends, family remember Breanna Menacho

A photo of Breanna Menacho’s smiling face appeared on screens as her friends and relatives lined the back of a Yellowknife courtroom on Wednesday.

People gathered said they remember the 22-year-old Indigenous woman for her smile, empathy, warm hugs and humour.

“She had the kindest soul and wherever she went, she lit up rooms,” Lisa Zoe said of her daughter, who grew up in Yellowknife and Edzo and was an avid soccer player.

“I have never met anyone who spreads so much light and love in this world.”

Zoe stood with her husband at the front of the courtroom as she delivered an emotional statement during the sentencing hearing for the man who murdered her daughter. The couple and other family members wore shirts featuring a red handprint and the text #justiceforBre.

“We know that she is here with us today,” Zoe said, explaining they wore red as the colour is connected to the spirit world.

Devon Larabie, 31, pleaded guilty in November 2023 to second-degree murder. He now faces a mandatory life sentence for killing Breanna in May 2020.

‘I miss her every day’

Zoe said her daughter’s murder has left her with anxiety that can be debilitating and she lives with fear that Larabie could return to Yellowknife someday. She said the past four years have involved “indescribable pain, heartache and suffering.”

“We are the prisoners now. We are the ones who will be suffering,” she said.

Ten other relatives and friends submitted victim impact statements, which either they or Crown prosecutor Alison Lewis read out loud. Many shared fond memories of Breanna as well as descriptions of the hurt, shock and fear they have experienced since her death.

David Menacho travelled from Tulita to attend the sentencing hearing. He said he has endured unimaginable pain and suffering since his daughter was murdered and the court process has dragged on.

“I miss her every day. No amount of time in jail will bring back my Breanna,” he wrote.

“She had the most beautiful spirit and left an impact on anyone who knew her,” Charlene Menacho wrote of her younger cousin.

“Breanna always made me feel accepted, acknowledged and important,” her cousin Melva Mantla said.

“Your impact is so deep and your love is felt to my core,” family friend Jacqueline Stanbridge said, reading from a letter she wrote to Breanna, her former student.

Crown, defence agree on sentence

Second-degree murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Canada. People convicted of the charge must serve 10 to 25 years in prison before they are eligible for parole. The Parole Board of Canada ultimately decides if an inmate will be released on parole.

In a joint submission, both the Crown and defence argued that Larabie should serve 10 years in prison before he has the chance to be released on parole.

Prosecutor Blair McPherson said the lawyers had determined that was a fair and just sentence based on “the horrifying circumstances” of Breanna’s murder, Larabie’s guilty plea and his background, as well as sentences in similar cases.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Larabie had been sitting beside Breanna on a couch in his living room on the evening of May 5, 2020, when he suddenly attacked her with a hatchet. Five other people were in the apartment at the time.

McPherson said there was no reason for the attack, which he described as “an extreme expression of gratuitous violence.”

“This just doesn’t make sense, why this happened,” he said.

Larabie told the author of a pre-sentence report he does not know why he attacked Breanna. McPherson said Larabie and Breanna were acquaintances.

Larabie had been on an “alcohol and crack cocaine-fuelled binge” in the weeks leading up to the murder, according to the agreed statement of facts.

McPherson said Larabie took steps to try to cover up the crime before RCMP officers searched his apartment.

Jordan Nande and Lisa Brule pleaded guilty in 2020 to being accessories after the fact to murder. They were each sentenced to 10 months’ imprisonment and two years’ probation for helping Larabie in his attempt to evade authorities.

McPherson said Larabie’s guilty plea saved court time and resources and spared witnesses from having to testify. He said RCMP officers and other witnesses were “profoundly affected” by the crime.

McPherson and Justice David Gates noted, however, that the guilty plea was very late in the court process. Larabie – who fired several lawyers over the past four years – entered the plea on the first day of what was set to be a weeks-long trial, after an earlier scheduled trial had been cancelled.

Larabie had previously attempted to plead guilty to manslaughter, but the Crown would not accept a plea to a lesser charge.

Defence lawyer Michael Spratt said his client has no previous criminal record, accepts responsibility for the murder and feels remorse.

He said Larabie is an Indigenous offender who has been impacted by intergenerational trauma from residential school. He said Larabie was also “subject to abuse and torture as a child” and struggles with addiction and mental health issues.

“I have never seen in 20 years of practice someone who suffered what Mr Larabie suffered as a child,” he said.

Spratt said Larabie has taken programming and completed his GED while at the North Slave Correctional Complex.

He said while Larabie has relapsed and used drugs while at the jail, his client recognizes that he needs help and Larabie wants to further his education and better himself.

The sentencing hearing is set to continue on Thursday.