SASKATOON — The family of Jordanna “Jo Jo” Kucher says they are living with “a life sentence of grief” after the 20-year-old was shot and killed on Saskatoon’s 8th Street in November 2024.
They packed into Saskatoon Provincial Court on Jan. 21 to watch the woman who helped the shooter escape receive her sentence.
Kucher died on the sidewalk outside the Copper Mug. Court heard that as she lay dying, her nine-month-old daughter was taking her first steps at home.
“As Jo lay dying in a parking lot surrounded by strangers, her daughter took her first steps,” said her mother Dana in a victim impact statement to the Saskatoon Provincial Court on Wednesday.
The first 911 call came in at 6:25 p.m. on Nov. 24, 2024, reporting that a woman had been shot in the back. Saskatoon police officers arrived within minutes and found Kucher face down on the pavement with a small-calibre bullet wound below her right shoulder blade. Paramedics pronounced her dead at 6:56 p.m.
More than a year later, her family filled the courtroom gallery as 37-year-old Katelin Shawna Faye McGillivary pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder. She was sentenced to 1,825 days, minus credit for time served, leaving 1,175 days remaining. She was initially charged with first-degree murder.
Judge Bruce Bauer thanked Kucher’s family for their courage in sharing their victim impact statements.
“It is important for the community to know the results of crime,” he said. “And important for the perpetrator to know the effect of their behaviour.
“We had a young woman who had her whole life ahead of her," said Judge Bauer.
What happened that night
Crown prosecutor Monique Lambert-Wignes presented the agreed statement of facts.
At 6:02 p.m., a Riide taxi picked up McGillivary and a 17-year-old male, who can’t be identified because of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, at a home at 320 Avenue Q South in the Pleasant Hill neighbourhood. The youth, on crutches, wore a Chicago Bulls cap and pulled a bandana over his face. Taxi video captured him adjusting his waistband, revealing the top of a bolt-action firearm.
The pair asked to be taken to the Copper Mug and the Colonial Inn on 8th Street.
At 6:20 p.m., they arrived at the Colonial. McGillivary told the driver they needed to be picked up in 20 minutes. Surveillance video showed them walking toward the Copper Mug’s front doors. Minutes later, they were seen back inside the Colonial lobby, with the youth again adjusting an object down his right pant leg.
At 6:25 p.m., a gunshot rang out.
Witnesses saw the pair arguing with Kucher on the street moments before she fell. A friend told police he heard an argument, saw the youth reach into his jacket as Kucher walked away, and then heard a “pop.”
At 6:29 p.m., McGillivary got into the waiting taxi and directed the driver to pick up the youth on the east side of the Colonial. Audio from the taxi captured the youth worrying about how his mother would react when she learned what had happened.
Gunshot residue was later found on McGillivary’s left hand and face, indicating she was close to the shooting. She didn’t call for help or stay to help Kucher. Instead, she helped the shooter get away.
‘Jo Jo was a firecracker’
Eight victim impact statements were read or entered at the hearing.
Kucher's mother Dana described adopting her at age three.
“She was a firecracker,” she said. “She was a busy girl, constantly on the move. We needed an outlet for all that energy, and after some experimentation, Jo found her niche in dance. By the time she hit high school, she was involved in 10 different forms of dance, and was well on her way to completing exams in those forms.”
She taught dance and “especially loved” working with the three and four-year-old children.
Kucher’s sister, Nikita, said losing her has been devastating.
“Every morning, I wake up and have to face the reality all over again…she’s gone. Big sisters are meant to protect their little sisters. I carry the pain of knowing I couldn’t be there to protect her and that I can no longer keep her safe. You have given my family a life sentence of grief, one we will carry for the rest of our lives.
“I’m grateful every day that her daughter is still here with us," she added. "She is a living, breathing piece of Jo."
Kucher’s dance studio in Kindersley, Premier Dance, paid a tribute to her a day after she was murdered.
“Jordanna Kucher was a talented, naturally gifted dancer who trained her entire dance career at our studio. She completed several major exam levels in ballet and tap. We are devastated to hear of her passing and send her family much love and support. We will always remember Jo Jo…vibrant, full of life, funny and so excited to be part of the team.”
Gladue factors and background
A pre-sentence report revealed McGillivary’s troubled past.
Court heard she is a member of the Peter Ballantyne Cree Nation and grew up in Pelican Narrows, where she was exposed to substance abuse and dysfunction. She developed a daily intravenous drug habit and started meth and drinking heavily in 2019. She proceeded on a downward spiral after her spouse was murdered in Prince Albert in 2021.
Defence lawyer Patrick McDougall said McGillivary has remained sober in custody at Pine Grove Correctional Centre, where overcrowding has forced beds into the chapel and gymnasium. She is participating in addictions counselling and has expressed interest in cultural programming and furthering her education.
He said she will likely start serving her sentence at Edmonton Women’s Institution for the first part of her sentence before being transferred to a healing lodge.
“It would be the only right way for this to turn out,” said McDougall.
Judge Bauer said it’s important McGillavary has people in the community who are supportive of her, but he cautioned her support is a two-way street.
“You have to support them as much as you can and the way you can support them is by working on yourself. The way you can support the community is by working on yourself while in custody to get those extra classes [to] complete your social work degree that you have worked on so you can assist other people in your community.”
McGillivary apologized to the court and said she should have stayed at the scene and called for help.
Her co-accused, the youth who fired the gun, was sentenced in August 2025 to seven years for second-degree murder. He was initially charged with first-degree murder.
ljoy@sasktoday.ca
