Mom's 'long journey' ends as woman sentenced for fatally shooting son
A London mother said she found comfort after a woman was sentenced for the bizarre shooting of her adult son whose body was put in a bin
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It took years for Levi Brown’s mother to complete the long journey through the criminal justice system as she sought justice for her only child.
But it was only during the final, plodding steps through court when Cheyanne Metatawabin took responsibility for shooting Brown, 36, that Michele Brown said she found a small bit of comfort.
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A month ago, Metatawabin, 31, an Indigenous woman with a devastating past, referred to herself as “a monster” and offered an apology for firing the fatal shot inside a Baseline Road apartment two years ago.
“There was a part of me that felt a lot of empathy for her,” Michele Brown said Wednesday outside of the London courthouse about Metatawabin’s words. Up until then, “I’ve never been able to say her name.
“I felt like there was this broken little girl up there and I don’t want this to happen again. I want her to get help. She’s a part of our community.”
Brown’s mother had time to digest what Metatawabin said at a hearing on May 1 when Metatawabin pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, but guilty to criminal negligence causing death for her part in a bizarre case that ultimately led to the discovery of Brown’s body disposed in a large recycling bin that had been tossed into a nearby creek.
The joint sentencing proposal from the Crown and the defence was a time-served disposition – the equivalent of three years and 33 days – plus three years of probation.
But at the last minute, Superior Court Justice Patricia Moore picked up on what could have been a significant sentencing error. The mandatory minimum sentence for criminal negligence causing death is four years and the proposed sentence would have been unfit.
Moore gave both sides time to refine their positions and Metatawabin, who had been in custody since her arrest, was granted bail. That led to Wednesday, when Metatawabin’s guilty plea to criminal negligence was struck, and she entered a guilty plea to her original charge of manslaughter – based on the underlying offence of assault with a weapon – a conviction that has no mandatory minimum sentence.
“I plead guilty,” she said softly.
Moore agreed to the joint proposal and sentenced Metatawabin to time served and three years of probation that includes counselling.
Everything else heard at the previous sentencing hearing was applied to the new proceeding, including the victim impact statements and Metatawabin’s apology. The agreed statement of facts was also admitted along with a small addition regarding the firearm.
Assistant Crown attorney Vanessa Decker told Moore the gun was never located and tested and the Crown “is not intending to allege it can prove it met the legal definition of a firearm.”
Moore was able to review the facts surrounding the case in her judgment and sentencing decision. Metatawabin and Brown were in a relationship and were at Christian Williams’ apartment on the morning of March 19, 2023, along with a woman.
Brown had brought a weapon to the apartment and asked Williams to load it. When Williams struggled with the gun, Brown loaded it himself, took the safety off and then gave the gun to Metatawabin. He told her to shoot.
Metatawabin did as she was asked and Brown was shot in the head. Metatawabin was shocked. “Both the accused and the deceased had been using fentanyl,” Moore said.
Williams testified at the preliminary hearing that “he didn’t believe that Ms. Metatawabin wanted to shoot Mr. Brown but was scared and Mr. Brown basically threatened her to pull the trigger.”
Moore heard earlier that Brown may have still been breathing when Metatawabin, Williams and the woman left. Williams returned later and placed Brown’s body, wrapped in a red sleeping bag, into a large blue recycling bin he had retrieved from the garbage room. He pushed the bin to the creek where it sat for six days before it was spotted by a cyclist.
A year ago, Williams pleaded guilty to being an accessory after the fact of manslaughter and was sentenced to 2 1/2 years plus probation terms.
Moore acknowledged the heartfelt victim impact statements that reflected the pain and loss experienced by the people closest to Brown and how he was his mother’s “most precious gift, her son, her whole heart, her best friend.”
She also reviewed Metatawabin’s criminal history that included convictions for violence and a Gladue Report – a specialized pre-sentence report for Indigenous offenders. The report prepared in 2017 outlined Metatawabin’s troubled background.
Her life has been marked by abuse, family displacement and disconnection. Her family has ties to the residential school system. There is a family history of addiction and physical, mental and physical abuse. Metatawabin was moved frequently. She has given birth to three children, but has no contact with some of them. She had a learning issues and little education.
Metatawabin started smoking marijuana at 14, used cocaine at 17 and moved onto crystal meth. She may have been diagnosed with post-traumatic stress disorder, anxiety and depression and has shown signs of fetal alcohol syndrome disorder.
“There could be little doubt that Ms. Metatawabin has been impacted by her Indigenous heritage and background,” Moore said. “Her history reveals an unfortunate common journey for many Indigenous women who end up before the criminal justice system.”
Moore gave Metatawabin credit for her guilty plea and her expressed remorse. But aggravating was her criminal record and the loss experienced by Brown’s family, “including the fact that his mother spent six days looking for her son while he was in a bin in a creek.
“Ms. Metatawabin has a long road ahead of her to deal with her past trauma and substance abuse issues,” the judge said.
Michele Brown said outside of court that her initial reaction to the joint position from the Crown and defence was disappointment. “I have fought every day for Levi to see justice be served and I felt like it was a slap in the face, not just to me but to his memory, but to him and what happened to him.”
For the sentencing to be delayed over legal technicalities, “seemed to go in stride with how bizarre this thing has been since the beginning.”
Brown said she continues to grieve and wonder how the woman who shot her son and the others could leave him there, still breathing in the apartment, why the police weren’t called, and that Metatawabin “could have done the right thing.
“It’s inhumane and she is a monster,” Michele Brown said. “I don’t care if she says that she says she is sorry or she knows how I feel. Her children were taken away because of her actions. My child was taken away because of her actions, not mine.”
Brown’s grief is endless. “I miss everything. He was such a joy. He was my best friend. I miss his laugh. I miss his humour. I just miss his love.”
But at the end of Wednesday’s hearing, she said, “I feel like I can really put Levi to rest like he deserves .It’s been a long journey and it’s time for a rest.”
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