Arsonist in fire that killed baby gets 76-day jail sentence
EDMONTON A man who pleaded guilty to arson in a house fire that killed a five-month old baby in southwest Edmonton will serve no additional jail time.
Bronson Woycenko, 20, was charged with setting the fire that destroyed 1040 Armitage Crescent SW on Aug. 22, 2017. He pleaded guilty to arson and two counts of mischief to property on Dec. 7.
An initial charge of second-degree murder for the death of baby Hunter Brown was withdrawn last year. Charges against a 19-year-old woman also accused in the fire were dropped entirely.
Provincial court Judge C.J. Sharpe handed Woycenko a 76-day jail sentence Thursday, which had earlier been agreed to by the Crown and the defence in a joint submission.
Woycenko had already spent 51 days in remand, for which the court awarded him 1.5 days each in time served. Woycenko, who was no longer in custody, walked out of the courthouse with his lawyer Thursday. He will also be on probation for two years, with a number of court ordered conditions.
Around a dozen people watched the proceedings from the gallery of courtroom 267, including Angie Tang, who was badly injured during the fire trying to save her baby. Three supporters carried framed photos of the child.
Sharpe read aloud from a statement of facts agreed to by the Crown and the defence. According to the statement, Woycenko left his home in the early morning hours of Aug. 22 in a white van, intending to vandalize property at two homes belonging to Tang and her husband, Cordell Brown.
He did so due to what the statement described as an “unhappy disagreement” with Brown. The statement did not go into any additional detail, other than to call it a “falling out.”
Court heard that after damaging plants and a number of other items at the other house, Woycenko drove to 1040 Armitage. He began to damage a number of plants outside the home. At some point, he lit the tag of an outdoor cushion on fire. Court heard he used no accelerant to spark the fire. Woycenko then drove off around the block. When he came back by the house about three minutes later, the front porch was on fire. Court heard he drove away without stopping or calling 911. He later stopped and ordered food at a McDonald’s.
Eight people were living in the house at the time, five of them tenants, court heard. Tang was hospitalized in intensive care for several days after being trapped in a closet trying to protect her baby.
Woycenko did not speak during Thursday’s hearing, other than to say he understood the conditions of his probation. Sharpe said she accepts he is “genuinely remorseful” and that he did not intend to hurt anyone.
According to the agreed facts, Woycenko is of Romanian descent and was adopted as a 10-monthold. He lived with an adoptive family until he was 17. Court heard he moved in with the Browns and lived with them for some time. He has no previous criminal record.
Sharpe said she was surprised and disappointed when Woycenko declined to address the court after entering his guilty plea last year. She said that while he may come to regret this some day, it is his right not to speak. She also commended Angie Tang for her courage and strength in the face of an “unimaginable loss.”
In a lengthy written statement on behalf of the family, Judith Lam Tang, Angie’s sister-in-law, said the sentence is “truly too much for any sane person to comprehend.”
“It is difficult to express the utter disappointment and disillusionment we are feeling with our justice system following today’s sentencing hearing,” wrote Lam Tang, who attended Thursday ’s hearing.
The family left quickly after court adjourned.
“Hunter’s death was no accident,” she wrote. “It was the result of an individual’s deliberate actions. Yet this individual is facing nothing more than a minor inconvenience as his time-served means he will have no additional prison time.”