Brandon Cameron was 26 years old when he was found deceased in 2021. (Facebook)

By Nigel Maxwell

Court proceedings

Mother feels justice not served after son’s killer receives 13 year prison sentence

Jul 20, 2023 | 12:00 PM

Nearly two years after a man was found lying dead in a truck, the resulting court case has wrapped up.

Straughn Smallchild, 23, who entered a guilty plea to manslaughter, received a 13-year prison sentence for the death of Brandon Cameron in September 2021.

As well, Cory Littlepine, 34, who admitted to being an accessory after the fact, received a sentence of two years.

On the morning of the incident, Rosthern RCMP were called to a rural area near Beardy’s and Okemasis Cree Nation and found the victim deceased. The investigation determined there had been an altercation early that morning in the First Nation.

According to Cameron’s obituary, he had four children and seven siblings.(Facebook)

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According to facts read in court, Smallchild and Cameron had three fights that day but after the third fight, Smallchild came back with a gun and beat Cameron with it on the head and was stomping on him for about five to 10 minutes.

With respect to the reason for the disagreement, a statement read in court indicated it may have been over an arm wrestling match and the arguing went too far.

Smallchild was arrested later that day at a home on the Cree Nation and was initially charged with second-degree murder. Cory Littlepine was arrested the following day. Brandon’s mother Roberta Littlepine told paNOW she was not happy with the decision on manslaughter.

“Our family wished there would have been a trial so more of the truth would have come out. We felt we had no say into any of it they just said cause he pleaded guilty we didn’t have to have trial,” she said.

Cameron leaves behind four children, and his mother acknowledged they are having a hard time dealing with the loss.

“Two of his children think he’s still around and ask me to phone him and his older daughter has anxiety because he’s gone,” she explained.

Smallchild received 1,007 days credit for time spent in remand while Littlepine received 711 days credit and has 19 days left to serve for this offence.

He however did enter guilty pleas to a number of other offences that happened in October 2021, including possession of a gun, careless use of a firearm, and breach of a release condition. For these offences, Littlepine received an additional eight months in jail.

Upon their release from custody, both men are prohibited for life from owning or possessing any firearms or explosives.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @nigelmaxwell