Murder charge stayed in 2022 Winnipeg homicide: Man was shot to stop knife attack on woman

A Winnipeg woman is no longer facing a second-degree murder charge in a 2022 fatal shooting of a man in Winnipeg West End after the evidence showed she shot him to protect another woman when he lunged at her with a knife, the CBC has learned. 

Samantha Lee Bruyere, 44, was charged in the shooting death of Ira Hayes Disbrowe in July 2022.

She was already serving time at the Women's Correctional Centre on unrelated charges when the murder charge was laid, and she remains in custody.

Disbrowe died on April 18 of that year after being found critically injured outside an apartment near the corner of Sargent Avenue and Beverly Street. 

Crown prosecutor Vanessa Gama entered a stay of proceedings for the murder charge on July 10 based on the circumstances surrounding the shooting, but said they were still prosecuting Bruyere for a weapons charge. 

The details of those circumstances were outlined at Bruyere's sentencing hearing on Nov. 9. 

During the hearing, court heard that Bruyere went to the apartment on Sargent Avenue to deal crack cocaine to Disbrowe's girlfriend. Several other people were also there at the time.

Shortly after Bruyere arrived, Disbrowe came into the suite and started punching his girlfriend in the face and body, but no one intervened because of his large size and aggressive demeanour, according to the statement of facts read in court. 

When he came back, he forced his way into the suite with a large butcher knife raised over his head and lunged toward his girlfriend. 

That's when Bruyere picked up a loaded gun that was in the suite and shot him in the chest, court heard. 

Disbrowe ran out of the apartment to the street, where he collapsed. He died a short time later from his wound. 

Investigators confirmed that it was Bruyere who pulled the trigger, but Crown prosecutors decided not to proceed with the second-degree murder charge based on this evidence, court heard on Nov. 9. 

At the Nov. 9 hearing, provincial court Judge Mark Kantor sentenced Bruyere to three years in jail on the weapons charge, plus an additional year in custody for breaching a court order. 

In reading his decision, Kantor said he believed Bruyere posed a significant risk to public safety due to her lengthy criminal record and affiliation with the Mad Cows Gang.