An Alberta man convicted last year of killing a man by shooting him in the back of the head has been sentenced to life in prison.
In November, a judge found Brenon Gray guilty of second-degree murder in the 2022 death of 35-year-old Romeo Flett at his home in Cadotte Lake, Alta., northeast of Peace River.
Court of King's Bench Justice Anna Loparco, in a written decision, says the gravity of the offence is significant and calls it a "senseless and unexplained crime."
A female witness told court the two men were talking and she heard Gray, who was armed with a 12-gauge shotgun, say to Flett: "I should shoot you."
.png)
Court heard their conversation turned to whether Flett knew anything about the death of a man named Keith, before witnesses heard a "loud bang" and found Flett lying on the floor.
Gray fled the home and was the subject of a massive police search that ended two months after the shooting.
"For the foregoing reasons, I confirm Mr. Gray’s sentence of imprisonment for life and include an order that he not be eligible to apply for parole until he has served a period of 12 years of imprisonment," Loparco says in the decision.
Flett’s mother, in a victim impact statement, said the day of her son's murder his oldest son phoned to tell him his first granddaughter was born, but he never got to meet her.
Cadotte Lake, which is part of Woodland Cree First Nation, is about 500 kilometres northwest of Edmonton.
