The stolen vehicle was found in the 2100 block of Second Ave. W. (Image Credit: Nigel Maxwell/paNOW Staff)

By Nigel Maxwell

Traumatic events

Prince Albert car jacking results in five year sentence

Mar 20, 2026 | 5:01 PM

A five-year prison sentence has been handed to a young woman who committed a car jacking in broad daylight, and targeted a man who had gone out to a local restaurant to get some food.

Kealee Benjaman, 25, appeared Friday afternoon at provincial court in Prince Albert and has been in custody since her arrest last September. Guilty pleas were entered on Feb. 11.

On the afternoon of Sept. 14, 2025, police responded to a robbery that occurred in the parking lot of a fast food restaurant in the 2200 block of Sixth Ave. E.

According to the facts read in court by Crown Prosecutor Cara Merasty, the victim was parked outside and had left the doors to his new SUV unlocked. Benjamin entered the car by way of the passenger side door and a second woman climbed into the back seat and proceeded to try and choke the victim.

“He put his elbows up to stop her,” Merasty said.

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Benjamin, who had by now grabbed the keys, pulled out a sawed off shotgun from the bag she was carrying, and told the driver to get out.

“He’d never seen these people before,” Merasty added.

A bystander who witnessed the incident called police and officers found the stolen vehicle in the 600 block of 17th St. W. They then followed it to the 2100 block of Second Ave. W. and pulled it over, but the occupants fled.

Benjamin was located soon after.

A K9 track was conducted by members of the Canine Unit and led to police locating and seizing a backpack containing a firearm and ammunition before ending the track in the location of the arrest. Also in the bag were Benjamin’s treaty status and health cards.

After her arrest, while on remand at Pine Grove, Benjamin committed two assaults on other inmates as well as a correctional officer.

With respect to Benjamin’s criminal record, Merasty said it essentially started in 2022 after the death of her father and when she began using methamphetamine.

“This will be the longest sentence she will have ever served.”

In turn, Benjamin’s legal aid lawyer Kylee Wilyman outlined a troubled childhood that included physical and sexual abuse and being bounced around between a number of foster homes.

By age 11, she began drinking and by 20, she was experimenting with harder drugs.

“This is a young woman who has a troubled life,” Wilyman said, adding Benjamin lost both her father and partner to drug overdose.

“She acknowledges she struggles managing her anger.”

As per Canada’s Criminal Code, the mandatory minimum sentence for a robbery with a firearm is five years, and while accepting the joint submission, Judge O’Connor stated her surprise a longer sentence was not being sought.

“This is an incredibly serious offence,” she said.

Noting the intergenerational trauma in Benjamin’s family background, Judge O’Connor said a federal institution offers more opportunities with respect to programming.

As part of their submission, defence also asked the judge to make a recommendation to Correctional Service Canada that Benjamin be allowed to serve all or part of her sentence at a healing lodge. Judge O’Connor agreed to make the recommendation.

With remand credit, Benjamin has about four years left to serve.

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nigel.maxwell@pattisonmedia.com

On X: @nigelmaxwell