Woman who killed Tyla Whitebird gets 11 years for manslaughter

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Vianna Gracie Moberly repeatedly stabbed Tyla Whitebird in a “spontaneous act of violence” without any reasonable provocation, a Saskatoon judge declared before imposing his sentence for last year’s killing on Christmas Day.

On Thursday, Judge Stephen Carter agreed with the Crown that 11 years is a “fit and just sentence” for what was described as a “near murder.”

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Moberly, 20, was initially charged with second-degree murder after Whitebird’s body was found in a grassy area near Saskatoon’s Southwest Industrial area on Dec. 26, 2023.

Moberly told police she attacked Whitebird, 20, because she perceived her to be “annoying” as the pair walked through a field the night before.

She pleaded guilty to manslaughter. Crown prosecutor Aaron Martens said although intoxication was a factor in the killing, Moberly’s significant mental health issues would make it difficult for the Crown to prove she had the intent required for murder.

Court heard the women, who met at the Saskatoon Tribal Council’s Wellness Centre, had been drinking alcohol and using meth with some men in a truck. During a traffic stop, Moberly grabbed a knife from the truck before they got out, Carter said in summarizing the facts heard at Moberly’s provincial court sentencing hearing in August.

Police went to the STC wellness centre after an open notebook with the centre’s number written inside was found beside Whitebird’s body. Surveillance video showed the women leaving the facility together around 8 p.m. the previous night, and Moberly returning alone hours later.

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She later told police she got angry, stabbed Whitebird until she stopped moving, and threw the knife into a sewer, court heard.

Martens proposed an 11-year manslaughter sentence while defence lawyer Ian Wagner sought an eight-year term, citing his client’s numerous mental health disorders and Gladue factors — systemic issues that courts must consider when sentencing Indigenous offenders. 

Court heard Moberly has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD), attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD), borderline personality disorder and bipolar disorder. Her impulsivity and anger issues, combined with drug-induced psychosis from extensive substance abuse, make her a high risk to reoffend, Martens said when arguing for a longer prison term. 

Pre-sentence reports said that according to a former foster parent, her FASD became apparent when she was eight years old and her behaviour at school was out of control. Her childhood was spent in and out of foster and group homes, where she was often bullied, and she started using meth when she was 16 years old, court heard.

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Whitebird had similar struggles; victim impact statements read in court from her parental figures indicated she was in recovery and setting goals for her future. They said she was a strong, trusting woman who wanted to help others like herself.

Before she was sentenced, Moberly, who appeared by video from custody, told court she wants to work on getting better and is very sorry for what she did.

She was also sentenced to two years for arson, a term both lawyers proposed. According to the facts, smoke billowed out into a hallway as video surveillance showed Moberly and a man leaving an Avenue B South apartment with bags and a suitcase on May 28, 2023.

She was given just over a year of enhanced remand credit.

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