Security heavy in court for teen who murdered young mother, threatened judge

The teen was on crutches when he shot Jordanna Kucher in the back outside an east-side Saskatoon pub last fall.

The 16-year-old was using them because he'd been shot himself in a gang fight a month earlier. 

The detail emerged Thursday in provincial court during the the teen's sentencing hearing. The boy, now 17, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the Nov. 14, 2024 death of Kucher outside The Copper Mug pub and restaurant.

He shot the young mother during a robbery.

Kucher's friends and family spent five hours in court listening to the prosecutor, defence and judge try to arrive at a sentence that fit the teen's personal circumstances, offered some justice to Kucher's family and protected society when he is released back into the community in his early 20s.

Security in the courtroom was heightened by the presence of extra deputy sheriffs, including ones placed by the prisoner's box. 

"It's a very tragic case," said defence lawyer Meagan Ward.

"And it's a very tragic back story as it relates to the accused."

Crown attorney Shaela Verma read an agreed statement of facts into the record.

Police were called to The Copper Mug on 8th Street East at 6:25 p.m. CST on Nov. 14. They arrived to find Kucher face down on the pavement with a gunshot wound to her back. She died half an hour later.

Investigators quickly pieced together what happened through surveillance video at the pub and in taxis used by two suspects. 

They were able to track a young male suspect, on crutches, and a female, to a house at 320 Ave. Q South. In-car footage from the taxi, which included audio, revealed that the teen had a firearm in his waistband. After the shooting, he and his co-accused were heard on tape discussing "murder," and "taking care of business."

A man with Kucher that night said they had walked from McDonald's to the pub to buy cigarettes. They were confronted outside the pub, and that Kucher was shot during a robbery.

The 16-year-old was arrested at the house on Avenue Q and charged with first-degree murder. A 36-year-old woman, Katelin McGillivary, was also arrested and charged with first-degree murder. Her trial is slated to begin Sept. 22. 

'Better to be the one doing the killing,' teen said of gang life 

Verma and defence lawyer Meagan Ward agreed the boy should get the maximum youth sentence of seven years. But they diverged on how much credit he should be given for the time he had already spent in custody, and whether he should be forced to take an intensive rehabilitation program.

"There were some challenging legal issues in terms of pre-sentence custody and how that gets considered," Ward said outside court. 

Comments the teen made during a psychiatric assessment further complicated sentencing him. 

Court heard how the teen had told the report writers that "I'd like to be the first kid to punch a judge in the face." He also said, describing his involvement with gangs, that "it's kill or be killed out there."

"It's better to be the one doing the killing."

Verma said the pre-sentence report offered "a roadmap to how he ended up here," and that he had "a very complicated family and upbringing ... marked by trauma and survival."

• Teen charged with 1st-degree murder in Saskatoon's 13th homicide of year

He had significant gang involvement "and is ambivalent about leaving the gang life." She said that his older brother murdered a Saskatoon newcomer in 2019 and then, in 2022, was himself murdered in front of the teen.

"Violence is his main problem-solving strategy," she said, quoting from the report.

Ward said the teen was born in Yorkton and had minimal contact with his father. She said that he's close to his mother but that she struggled with her own addictions and gang involvement. None of his family members were in court Thursday.

She said that he's the third oldest of 10, and that all of his brothers and sisters are in foster care.

"The street became his family," Ward said.

"He became ingrained in street life at an early age. The criminal lifestyle is the only lifestyle he was exposed to."

Ward said he began drinking at age 8, and that he used cocaine and crystal meth.

Verma had recommended the teen be placed in the Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) program, which offers specialized therapeutic programs and services for youth with mental health needs who are convicted of a serious violent offence.

But Ward said the teen was not interested in an IRCS sentence and would not participate in any of the programming, even if ordered. He did not explain why he did not want the enhanced care.

'How do you sum up a life in a page?'

Kucher's parents, siblings, cousins and friends were in court for the sentencing and spent an hour reading victim impact statements to the judge. 

Court heard how Kucher was adopted when she was three.

"How do you sum up a life in a page," said her mother, Dana.

"She was a firecracker from the first day ... she needed an outlet, and discovered dance."

Premier Dance in Kindersley, Sask. put together a photo tribute page for Kucher, describing her as "a talented, naturally gifted dancer who trained her entire dance career at our studio."

"She completed several major exam levels in Ballet & Tap."

Kucher had a nine-month-old daughter at the time she was killed. Speaking to the teen in the prisoner's box, her mother recalled learning that Jordanna's daughter had just taken her first steps when she died.

"She lay dying in a parking lot, surrounded by strangers, as her daughter took her first steps," she said.

Her older sister, Nikita, added that she came to court "to speak her name."

'You have a debt'

Associate Chief Judge Sanjeev Anand sentenced the teen to seven years, but did not force him to take the IRCS programming.

The sentence broke down to four years in custody, followed by three years under close supervision in the community. Anand also imposed a lifetime firearms ban.

"I hope you're impacted by the victim impact statements you've heard," he said.

Anand acknowledged the teen's traumatic background, but added "you took a life, that's on you."

"You have a debt. You have to spend the rest of your life paying that debt."

The boy declined to speak when offered the chance by Anand.