RELIVING THE PAIN
Grandfather of six-month-old Nikosis says it will bring back ‘all the pain’
Relatives of Nikosis Jace Cantre protest outside court after sentencing dates were set for the teen who killed the six-week-old baby a year ago.
Jeffery Longman is preparing himself for a week of pain in December.
The sentencing hearing for the teenager who killed Nikosis Jace Cantre, his six-week-old grandson, will finally take place from Dec. 11 to 15.
“It’ll bring back all the pain of that tragic night. I’ll never forget about what happened. Ever,” Longman said outside Saskatoon provincial court after a judge set the dates for the hearing.
The sentencing hearing for the teen killer had originally been scheduled to begin in June, but was postponed because appointments had been scheduled during that time for the teen to be assessed for fetal alcohol syndrome. Longman said the delays have been hard on his family.
“It’s taking too long,” he said. “I don’t understand the system. It’s kind of messed.”
The killer was 16 years old when baby Nikosis died on July 3, 2016 and can’t be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. She pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in October.
According to police, the teen had been serving a 10-month opencustody sentence at Kilburn Hall youth detention centre in the summer of 2016 and escaped in the early hours of July 2.
Nikosis’ family said they saw her wandering the streets and invited her into their home. The next morning, baby Nikosis was found injured and later died in hospital.
Longman said getting the phone call about his grandson’s death that day was “like a nightmare.”
“And to this day it’s still a nightmare. You know? Nothing will ever change it or take that pain away. My family’s in pain. Every day, we wake up in pain.”
Longman wants the teen given an adult sentence: Life behind bars with no chance of parole for seven years. If sentenced as an adult, the teen’s name would also be made public.
“The story should be heard. That’s what I say,” Longman said. “Let the truth be known, who she is, so people will know that she’ll never, ever walk the streets again to ever hurt another child like this ever again.”