PRINCE ALBERT – A stay of proceedings has been entered for a Mistawasis First Nation youth charged with second-degree murder in connection to 36-year-old Troy Watson’s death.
The youth, who can’t be identified in accordance with the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was arrested and charged in January 2022. Shellbrook RCMP had found Watson unconscious outside a home on Mistawasis First Nation on Nov. 17, 2020. EMS pronounced him deceased at the scene.
When the Crown enters a stay of proceedings, they can bring the charges back before the court within a year but this rarely happens. The Crown doesn’t have to tell the court why a stay of proceedings is being entered. A stay of proceedings may occur if there isn’t a likelihood of conviction or if prosecuting the accused doesn’t serve the public interest.
Roy Lasas, of Mistawasis First Nation, was also charged with second-degree murder in Watson’s death. His jury trial is scheduled in Prince Albert Court of King’s Bench in January 2024.
— for more from Crime, Cops and Court.
