Penticton woman jailed for injecting boyfriend with lethal dose of morphine

PENTICTON — Besides serving a one-year jail sentence, a Penticton woman who injected her teenage boyfriend with a lethal dose of morphine must also reimburse the victim's family for funeral costs, a judge ordered Wednesday.

Kiera Bourque, 24, previously pleaded guilty to the manslaughter death of Devon Blackmore, who was 17 when he died on April 2, 2017.

“While I am satisfied you did not have any intention of causing Devon's death … what you did was reckless, senseless and naive,” B.C. Supreme Court Justice Gary Weatherill told Bourque in his sentencing decision.

“You should have known better, especially since the drug you were administering was not legal … Devon's death and the whole ordeal was so unnecessary.”

Once her jail sentence is complete, Bourque will serve two years' probation, conditions of which include having no contact with Bourque's family and reimbursing them $5,400 for his funeral.

According to circumstances of the case read into the court record at the start of the hearing, Blackmore and Bourque had been dating for about three months when he became ill during spring break 2017.

Blackmore, who was set to graduate from Penticton Secondary School in a few months, suspected he had bronchitis and didn't seek medical attention. He instead went to stay with Bourque at her apartment. Bourque, who became addicted to morphine after a rugby accident in 2014, told police that Blackmore, who was inexperienced with drugs, asked her for a dose to ease his pain, despite having had an adverse reaction to morphine earlier in his life.

Bourque told police she injected Blackmore with his first dose on the evening of April 1, and another the next morning, both times at his request.

Around noon on the day of his death, she helped Blackmore to the washroom, where he collapsed and began having seizures.

She called 911 and performed first aid, but Blackmore was pronounced dead at the scene.