Woman who helped kill her 'violent and abusive' boyfriend gets 4½-year prison sentence

A Calgary woman who helped kill her boyfriend — a man described by the judge as "violent and abusive" — was handed a 4½-year sentence on Friday.

In November, Laura Lavorato, 46, was convicted of manslaughter in the death of Shawn McCormack, 34, who was fatally shot in July 2022. His body was found in a southwest alley the next day. 

The shooter, Devon Shedrick, 34, was convicted of first-degree murder and handed a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years. 

While she did not know Shedrick would kill McCormack, Lavorato encouraged her friend to assault her boyfriend, making her guilty of manslaughter. 

With credit for the time she's spent in custody, Lavorato has about 27 months left to serve. 

Although she did not advance a battered woman defence, Justice Keith Yamauchi considered the fact in his sentencing decision. 

"But for M. McCormack's treatment of Ms. Lavorato, she would not have been a part of this crime," wrote the judge in his 16-page decision. 

The judge found that Lavorato was in a "violent and abusive" relationship with McCormack at the time.  

In the days before the attack, Lavorato texted Shedrick: "Get him messed the f–k up."

On the day of the fatal shooting, she texted Shedrick again, telling him that McCormack was at her home, high on fentanyl. 

She told her friend that McCormack was spitting on her.

"The more he smokes, the crazier he gets," Lavorato texted.

"He hurt you, you and your friends should hurt him back," she wrote.

Prosecutor Peter Mackenzie had argued for a seven-year sentence, while Lavorato's lawyer, Rebecca Snukal, asked Justice Yamauchi to impose a time-served sentence, equal to about 2½ years, plus a period of probation.