PRINCE ALBERT, Sask. — The Saskatchewan Court of Appeal has upheld an eight-year prison sentence for a Prince Albert woman who stabbed her nephew to death during a drunken confrontation in an apartment.
Alisha Sky Ross, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter, had asked the province’s highest court to reduce her sentence to three years plus probation. In a unanimous decision, the three-judge panel granted her leave to appeal but dismissed the appeal, finding the sentence wasn’t demonstrably unfit.
“We are satisfied that the sentencing judge, who provided a carefully reasoned oral decision, had full regard for all the mitigating and aggravating factors present in this case,” said Justice Neal W. Caldwell, with Chief Justice Robert W. Leurer and Justice Keith D. Kilback agreeing.
The court found that while several factors weighed in Ross’s favour, including her early guilty plea, mental-health, addiction issues, rehabilitation factors, remorse, and Gladue factors as an Indigenous woman, the seriousness of the offence required a sentence prioritizing denunciation and deterrence.
The stabbing
According to court documents, the incident happened just after midnight on March 23, 2025, at a Prince Albert apartment where Ross was staying. Her 35-year-old nephew had been yelling, throwing objects and punching holes in the walls. A tenant woke Ross and told her to deal with him.
The tenant then heard shouting, including Ross saying, “Get the [expletive] out. I’m going to [expletive] stab you,” before calling 911. The tenant made a second call about 10 minutes later to report that the nephew was dead.
Court heard Ross stabbed her nephew three times with a kitchen knife, with one wound penetrating his heart. A toxicology report later showed his blood-alcohol was about five times over the legal driving limit.
In a warned statement to police, Ross initially claimed that her nephew had tripped over his shoes and fallen onto the knife. She later retracted that account and admitted she had deliberately stabbed him.
The sentence
Justice Caldwell said that manslaughter sentences in Saskatchewan range from four to 12 years, with seven years being a starting point. The court found that the eight-year sentence, which was reduced by 485 days of enhanced credit, leaving six years and eight months to serve, was within the range for similar offenders in similar circumstances.
“We conclude that an eight-year sentence does not represent a disproportionate response to the gravity of the manslaughter Ms. Ross committed and her moral culpability for its commission,” said Justice Caldwell.
ljoy@sasktoday.ca
