Yorkton's Kim Walker now awaits sentencing after the jury in his murder trial returned a verdict of manslaughter last week.
Justice Ellen Gunn reviewed all of the relevant evidence with the jury on Tuesday, May 24, before charging them to decide between a verdict of second-degree murder, manslaughter, or acquittal.
Deliberations lasted for the next two-and-a-half days, with the jury making no requests for further assistance or clarification from the court for most of that time.
On Thursday afternoon, the jury asked to hear Kim Walker's full testimony-in which he admitted to shooting James Hayward but claimed to have no memory of the incident-once more. They arrived at a verdict of manslaughter at around 7:30 that evening.
Walker's daughter Jadah, who was living with Hayward at the time of the murder, said the family feels the verdict puts them in "a good position."
"You always prepare for the worst and hope for the best. In this situation, this is not the worst-case scenario for us."
Some members of the victim's family were outraged by the manslaughter verdict, which is more lenient than Walker's previous conviction of second-degree murder.
Dan Hayward, James Hayward's brother, called the Canadian legal system "a joke" outside the Court of Queen's Bench that night.
"I am completely disgusted right now. I don't even know what to say. It just goes to show the gullibility of people and that you can trespass in a man's house and shoot him five times in front of everybody and it doesn't matter. I'm serving a life sentence without my brother because of him."
Kim Walker's wife Elizabeth spoke to the media after Hayward stepped aside.
"I would just like to know where the law was to protect my daughter from a 24-year-old convicted drug dealer who was a predator and preyed upon young people. Where was the law?" she asked.
Her comment provoked an expletive-filled shouting match between the two families that was broken up a few seconds later by the court sheriff.
Sentencing arguments from the two lawyers were heard the following morning. Crown prosecutor Robin Ritter called for an eleven-year prison term, less the three-and-a-half Walker has already served. Walker's attorney Balfour Der argued that Walker has already served enough time and should be released.
Dan Hayward and the victim's mother, Lorrie Getty, submitted victim impact statements on Friday.
"He crippled my life by taking away my best friend, the one person on this earth that knew me better than I know myself. The boy I grew up with, the man I looked up to, and my other half," wrote Hayward.
"Every morning," said Getty, "I wake up and hope this is all just a horrible nightmare, the worst I've ever had. I wish I could just close my eyes and pray, and maybe, if I pray hard enough, some of this pain would disappear, but it doesn't. I wake up to a world that just doesn't understand the pain of losing James, and not one day goes by that I don't think about being the mom of a murdered son, and it slowly kills me."
Justice Gunn will make her decision on July 13.
In Canada, manslaughter is punishable by up to life imprisonment. Offences committed with a firearm, as in this case, have a minimum penalty of four years in prison.
