Man, 18, sentenced as a youth in 2021 Queen Street alley death
An 18-year old man has been sentenced in relation to a 2021 incident that resulted in the death of Lionel Gary Schaeffer.
The man cannot be named in keeping with the Youth Criminal Justice Act, as he was a youth at the time of the offence, which occurred July 24, 2021.
Court documents show the man pleaded guilty to a charge of failing to stop at the scene of an accident resulting in death. He was sentenced on Feb. 8.
He also originally faced a charge of manslaughter, but that charge was stayed by the Crown.
He received a youth sentence of eight months in custody, followed by four months of community supervision. Additionally, the court imposed a two-year driving prohibition on him, which is to follow his time in custody.
In response to a question about why the Crown stayed the manslaughter charge, prosecutor Derek Davidson responded in an email: “I would refer you to my comments made on the record regarding the true plea bargain involved in this matter.
“The Crown believes the guilty plea entered on the charge and the sentence imposed are a fit and just outcome for the actions of the young person,” he wrote.
The sentence was based on a joint submission proposed by both Crown and defence lawyers.
According to a Regina Police Service (RPS) news release sent out following Schaeffer's death, officers were dispatched at around 1:30 a.m. on July 24, 2021 to the east alley of the 800 block of Queen Street regarding an injured man. The 53-year-old man, Schaeffer, was located and pronounced dead at the scene.
In October 2023, the RPS sent out a notice indicating an investigation involving Major Crimes officers and the Saskatchewan Coroners Service had concluded the death was a homicide. It noted the 18-year-old had been charged.