Suspension cancelled, stat release continued for Saskatoon woman who killed Brittney Gargol

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A Saskatoon woman who strangled her friend to death with a belt will go directly to a residential treatment facility after the suspension of her statutory release was recently cancelled.

A Parole Board of Canada decision from May 5 confirmed Cheyenne Rose Antoine, 27, received statutory release on March 28. It stated she was suspended when, three days later, she got into an “emotional state” during a conversation with a halfway house staff member and refused to allow them into her room during room checks.

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Antoine is serving a seven-year prison sentence for killing 18-year-old Brittney Gargol on March 25, 2015 and leaving her body on a road near Cedar Villa Estates, southwest of the city.

Gargol’s case went unsolved for two years, until Antoine was charged with second-degree murder in 2017.

She pleaded guilty to manslaughter in 2018. Antoine said she was heavily intoxicated and doesn’t remember killing Gargol during an argument after a night of partying, but admits she caused her death.

Most offenders serving fixed-length sentences are granted statutory release after serving two-thirds of their sentence. The legally-mandated release allows offenders to finish serving their sentences on conditions as they reintegrate into the community.

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) confirmed Antoine’s sentence concludes on April 18, 2025.

While statutory release is not a form of parole, the parole board sets the conditions an offender is on during their release period.

After a suspension, the board reviews the case to decide whether to cancel an offender’s release, or allow them to continue living in the community.

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“During your suspension, you were very engaged, making every effort to speak with CBRF staff and your parole officer to find a solution. You demonstrated a significant amount of motivation to understand how your actions were perceived as threatening and identify how you could have done things differently,” the board’s decision states.

“It was concluded that there was a lot of misunderstanding and emotion throughout the entire incident, and you, your parole officer, and CBRF staff felt that the situation had been rectified.”

In agreement with CSC, the board decided Antoine could remain on statutory release after she was accepted into a residential treatment facility. The length of time and start date were redacted in the decision.

When the program ends, she will continue to serve her sentence in a halfway house on conditions that prohibit her from consuming alcohol and drugs, and prohibit her from contacting Gargol’s family or associating with anyone involved in gangs, criminal activity or substance use.

She also must follow a community treatment plan focusing on substance use, trauma and violence.

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At her sentencing hearing, court heard Antoine was on a methamphetamine binge a month before killing Gargol. She used drugs and alcohol to cope with her sexual abuse in the foster system and her mother’s death, her lawyer said.

THE OFFENCE

Antoine tried to mislead investigators for two years about her involvement in Gargol’s death, creating false alibis and posting on Gargol’s Facebook wall about how much she missed her.

Six hours before her body was found, Gargol posted a selfie of her and Antoine on Facebook.

Police later noticed that the bottom left side of the photo showed Antoine was wearing a black belt that was believed to be used to strangle Gargol, and matched the one found near her body.

Court heard that someone later approached Gargol’s family to reveal that Antoine came to their house that night, intoxicated and screaming that she had choked her friend during an argument.

Antoine told her lawyer that her last memory is of Gargol taking her phone after they left a house party.

INSTITUTIONAL AND PAROLE HISTORY 

Antoine was denied full parole in October 2023, but had been granted day parole in June 2020. The board said it was revoked four months later after Antoine had overdosed, used a laptop without approval and was generally disrespectful.

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She was granted day parole again in 2021. After completing her first six-week intensive addiction program, she went unlawfully at large and was arrested in March 2022, the board noted.

Shortly after, she attacked a correctional officer “with closed fists” after being denied a shower.

The board said it was one of 15 “serious institutional charges” and 44 minor charges she incurred for “disobeying institutional rules, being disrespectful, threatening and assaultive to staff and other inmates, refusing urinalysis, possession of contraband, and diverting medication.”

Antoine has been deemed a high risk to reoffend, but the board noted her completion of “core correctional programming” including the Indigenous Women Offender High Intensity Program, and her participation in cultural healing.

Before her statutory release, the board said Antoine was positively participating in a self-management program to help her deal with emotional regulation, anger and violence.

The decision noted she said she’s been exposed to crime and substance abuse all her life.

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“The CSC reports that you accept responsibility for your actions, are future oriented, and can see the benefits of living a violence and drug-free lifestyle. The Board takes encouragement from the fact that you are increasingly identifying as a cycle breaker, and recognize the need for healing.”

Before sentencing Antoine, Judge Marilyn Gray told her to “Honour your friend by becoming a positive member of the community. You owe it to her.”

Gargol’s case was featured in She’s Gone, a Saskatoon StarPhoenix podcast series that received a national journalism award in 2021.

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