Sentences handed down for pair involved in woman’s death
NORTH BATTLEFORD, SASK. The first of two people sentenced for their roles in the 2019 death of Tiki Brook-lyn Laverdiere in the North Battleford area has received a seven-year prison term.
Queen’s Bench Justice Gerald Allbright first delivered his decision for 19-year-old Brent Firel Checkosis on Friday by phone. Then he sentenced Mavis Quinn Takakenew, 55, to 18 months in jail.
Takakenew and Checkosis pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact to murder. Their sentencing hearings took place in February, but the details of those hearings are protected by a publication ban and cannot be reported until the trials for the six remaining co-accused are concluded.
Both offenders have been in custody since their arrests last summer. With an enhanced remand credit of 1.5 days for every day spent on remand, Checkosis has five and a half years left to serve. Takakenew has four months and eight days of her sentence remaining.
Laverdiere, a 25-year-old from Edmonton, was in the North Battleford and Thunderchild First Nation area on April 27, 2019, for the funeral of Nicole Cook’s son when she disappeared shortly after. She was last heard from on May 1, 2019, and reported missing on May 12, 2019.
Her remains were discovered outside North Battleford on July 11, 2019.
Nicole Cook, Nikita Sandra Cook, Shayla Orthner, Danita Thomas, Soaring Eagle Whitstone and Jesse Sangster are still before the court. Each of them is charged with first-degree murder and kidnapping in connection with Laverdiere’s death. Some of the accused are also charged with interfering with human remains.
As part of their sentences, Takakenew and Checkosis are prohibited from possessing weapons for the rest of their lives. Allbright also made an order prohibiting Checkosis from communicating with any of Laverdiere’s family members or his co-accused while he is incarcerated.