A picture taken of Latisha Grumbo being escorted to Prince Albert Court of Queen's Bench on Thursday. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

‘I wish that girl would never have killed my mom’: Gateway Mall stabbing proceeds to sentencing

Mar 31, 2022 | 5:00 PM

Editor’s note: This story was amended on April 27, to indicate Justice Bardai’s remarks 12 people walked past Aubichon.

A woman who was fatally stabbed in the heart and lay on the sidewalk outside Prince Albert’s Gateway Mall for nearly an hour-and-a-half before help arrived; meanwhile getting robbed by passers by, will have justice.

The details were heard in court Thursday at the sentencing hearing for Latisha Grumbo. The 20-year-old entered a guilty plea to manslaughter for the death of Kayla Aubichon in July 2020.

The near three hour long hearing was held at Court of Queen’s Bench, and security cam footage of the incident was played for the court.

Around 10:20 p.m., Grumbo, Aubichon, and a third person on a bike can be seen outside the north side of the mall near the entrance to Urban Planet. Grumbo and the male on the bike travel away and Aubichon proceeds to walk east along the sidewalk, before sitting on the curb and then laying down.

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Aubichon successfully stands up, walks a few feet before lying back down on the sidewalk, where she would remain until 11:47 p.m. when paramedics and police arrived.

During the time Aubichon lies on the sidewalk, approximately 12 people walked by, and some even stop to go through her purse and pockets. When police arrived later, they would locate the purse nearby, along with Aubichon’s identification.

Kayla Aubichon. (Facebook)

According to evidence heard in court by Crown Prosecutor Cam Scott, Aubichon was stabbed once in the upper chest, which punctured her heart and resulted in excessive blood loss. Despite the best efforts of hospital staff, she was pronounced deceased nearly two hours later.

While explaining the motive remains unclear, Scott noted there was a suggestion that a debt was owed. He also explained Grumbo admitted to police she was high on drugs at the time, and said she didn’t mean for (expletive) “to go down that way.”

With permission from Aubichon’s mother, who was present in court, Scott read a victim impact statement written by Aubichon’s seven-year-old daughter.

In her letter the young girl described how much she missed her mother, and how much she struggles on Mother’s Day when all the other children at school are making gifts and cards for their mothers. The girl also drew a picture of her last known memory of her mother — lying in a coffin in a grave.

“I wish that girl would never have killed my mom,” she wrote.

Scott admitted to being disturbed by the number of people who walked by Aubichon’s motionless body, wondering if perhaps more could have done to save her, had someone called 911 sooner.

Statement from Defence

While noting Grumbo’s lack of a criminal record prior to June 2020, Legal Aid lawyer Angus McLean said Grumbo expressed feelings of deep remorse for what happened, adding she only found out after being arrested the following month.

He also indicated that when Grumbo initially left the scene, and looked back, Aubichon was at that time still on her feet, walking along the sidewalk.

When given the opportunity to speak, Grumbo stood in the prisoner’s box and apologized to the victim’s family.

“I just wanna (crying) tell you that I feel 100 per cent responsible for the pain that I caused,” she said. “I just want to let those people know I’m sorry.”

In addition to the manslaughter charge, Grumbo also entered a guilty plea related to reckless driving and failure to remain at the scene of an accident, knowing someone may have gotten hurt.

On June 30, 2020, Grumbo was behind the wheel of a car that was speeding out of control down a west flat back alley and crashed into a car that was parked outside the Prince Albert Grand Council daycare. A woman standing near the parked car was knocked to the ground and later taken to hospital with serious but non-life threatening injuries.

The suspect vehicle came to a stop after crashing into a second vehicle in the alley. Grumbo and an unidentified man then fled the scene on foot. Grumbo, for her part, was arrested hours later after police recovered video of her walking into a nearby convenience store, and from that were able to track down the person she was with.

For both incidents, the Crown is seeking an eight-year sentence while defence suggested a period of six years would be more appropriate given Grumbo’s background, guilty plea, and lack of a criminal record.

Justice N. Bardai has reserved his decision to April 27.

Outside the courthouse, Aubichon’s mother, Sue, told paNOW she felt the Crown’s proposed eight year sentence was not enough.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell