Crown stays charge in fatal 2015 stabbing

A woman set to be tried for manslaughter had planned to argue she acted in self-defence before the charge was stayed by the prosecution, her lawyer said.

Celina Jennifer Kelly, 53, was charged in the death of 73-yearold Pragalthan Narainsamy Naidoo, who was found dead in a three-storey apartment building at 14507 77 St. on the evening of Dec. 22, 2015.

A jury trial was to begin next Monday, but Crown prosecutor Maxine Bond entered a stay of proceedings April 11.

“In the course of trial preparation, it’s my understanding that (the Crown) assessed the reasonable prospect of conviction in light of our intention to proceed with a self-defence argument,” Kelly’s defence lawyer, Mona Duckett, said in a phone interview Tuesday.

She said Kelly was “very relieved” by the stay.

“She wished to express her deepest condolences to the deceased man’s family about the tragic situation,” Duckett said.

In an emailed statement, Alberta Justice spokeswoman Katherine Thompson confirmed the stay was entered because the case didn’t meet the standard of “reasonable likelihood of conviction,” but said it would be inappropriate to comment further because the Crown has one year in which to potentially reactivate the charge.

In 2015, Edmonton police charged Kelly with second-degree murder and possession of a weapon, though they refused to release the cause of death. According to court records, the weapon was a knife.

The murder charge was later replaced with manslaughter, and the weapon charge was withdrawn this past January.

Duckett said that during a preliminary hearing in January 2017, court heard from a medical examiner that Naidoo died of blood loss related to a stab wound to the shoulder that would have required very little force to inflict.

She said her client placed a 911 call that brought police to the residence that evening.

“One of Ms. Kelly’s hairs was found in his hand, and part of her report to the police on the 911 call included a report that she had been attacked by him,” Duckett said.

Duckett had also filed a Charter application in the case, arguing Kelly’s rights were violated following her arrest when she was “highly intoxicated” because she lacked capacity to understand her legal jeopardy, that she was improperly questioned before having an opportunity to access a lawyer, and that any statements she made during a five-hour videotaped interview were not voluntary because she was suffering from severe alcohol withdrawal and was in “poor physical and emotional condition” and had no capacity to remain silent because of her condition and the conduct of the police.

Duckett said that evidence at trial was expected to show that Kelly and Naidoo didn’t know each other prior to the day he died.