Trial scheduled for murder
A trial has been scheduled for four weeks in the summer of 2020 for the death of a man whose body was found in rural Sturgeon County.Four men will go to trial before a jury from June 1 to June 26 next year to face charges of kidnapping and murder in the death of Kevin Dean Damien Yellowbird.
Sterling Devon Martin McGilvery, 24, Skylar Taurus McGilvery, 21, Tyler Edmund Fischer, 31, and Cougar Dominique Fafard, 24, all face first degree murder and kidnapping. All four are residents of Edmonton.
A fifth person, Tanisha M. Desjarlais, was also charged in the fall of 2018 with manslaughter in the death of Yellowbird but the charge was withdrawn on Oct. 5.
Yellowbird was a resident of Edmonton and had ties to the community of Ma-Me-O Beach.
Yellowbird, 27, was found in a ditch on a rural road in Sturgeon County on Oct. 17, 2017. RCMP spokesperson Cpl. Hal Turnbull said investigators believe Yellowbird passed away "some time before" Oct. 17.
Turnbull said investigators suspect he had been there for longer than two days but cannot confirm exactly how much time elapsed before his body was discovered. The RCMP are not releasing the exact location where Yellowbird's body was discovered.
The RCMP say they will not release a timeline of events or how Yellowbird was killed until the trial.
The four charged had a preliminary inquiry in August 2018 and all details of the preliminary inquiry are under a publication ban.
Hit-and-run trial scheduled
A St. Albert man has scheduled a trial after being charged in a hit-and-run in Edmonton last year that killed a 16-year-old girl in a marked crosswalk.
Shane R. Stevenson, 47, is facing charges of impaired driving causing death, driving with a blood alcohol level over 80 mg causing death and hit and run causing death.
Stevenson will appear for a trial before a judge alone from Oct. 5, 2020 to Oct. 15, 2020 at the Court of Queen’s Bench.
Stevenson is a lawyer who worked as a partner at an Edmonton law office.
The charges were laid after a pick-up truck struck Chloe Wiwchar, 16, in a marked crosswalk the evening of April 15, 2018, while Wiwchar was crossing the road at 113 Street and Kingsway Avenue.
Wiwchar was treated by paramedics and rushed to hospital but was pronounced dead a short time later.
An off-duty EPS officer, who had stopped at the crosswalk to let Wiwchar cross the road, saw the truck hit her and gave chase when it drove off.
The officer sent information to police dispatch and police officers arrested Stevenson a short time later north of 107 Avenue around 108 Street.
Stevenson's bail was set at $50,000.
This is not the first time Stevenson has faced charges of impaired driving.
On Sept. 20, 2008, he was charged with careless driving and impaired driving.
The impaired driving charge was withdrawn, but he was convicted of careless driving and received a $500 fine as well as 18 months of probation.
On March 11, 2009, he was charged in Stony Plain for impaired driving and failing to provide a breath sample. Both of those charges were withdrawn in 2011.
