Man who killed teen girl in Leduc school sentenced to life, no parole eligibility for 12 years
CBC
WARNING: This story contains graphic details of violence.
Dylan Pountney will be in his thirties by the time he's allowed to apply for parole for murdering 17-year-old Jennifer Winkler during their high school social studies classroom.
The 22-year-old was given a life sentence on Thursday for second-degree murder, with no eligibility for parole for 12 years.
He's been in custody since his arrest on March 15, 2021. With credit for time served, the ineligibility period will last about eight and a half years.
Sitting in the prisoner's box in the Wetaskiwin Court of King's Bench, Pountney bowed his head as Winkler's best friends, family members and extended family gave victim impact statements.
They told the court about struggling to make sense of the morning of the murder — the panic when they heard Winkler was hurt, and the dread as they watched a STARS air ambulance fly over Christ the King School in Leduc, Alta.
Pountney, who the court found was experiencing psychosis, suddenly attacked Winkler during a mid-morning class break, in front of a teacher and several students.
He stabbed Winkler five times with a butcher knife he'd brought to school from his kitchen, and left her bleeding in the classroom doorway as he ran from the school.
Journie White said she's spent every day since that Monday morning missing her best friend. She now has a tattoo of the date of Winkler's death.
"I have spent the last three years regretting leaving that class because I wasn't there when Jenny needed me the most," she said.
"It was the beginning of so many of the worst days of my life, where my best friend should have been there but was taken too soon."
White, who had gone to the school bathroom during the break, was left hiding there with another of Winkler's best friends, Erika Williams, wondering if Winkler was OK as police swarmed the school.
Williams's mother, Randie Williams, said the girls grew up being incredibly close, and Winkler's death has shattered their family.
"At graduation, there was an empty seat. At our dinner table, there will always be an empty seat," she told the court.
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