Yukon’s territorial court has issued its first manslaughter sentence in a drug overdose death.
Chief Judge Michael Cozens sentenced Jared Skookum, 34, to two years less a day on Aug. 26.
Skookum sold two points of “down” – a common street name for opioids – to Kaska-Tlingit woman Stephanie Pye, 36, who was a member of the Liard First Nation.
Pye, a resident of Watson Lake, died on Apr. 6, 2022, in a Whitehorse hotel room from an overdose of fentanyl and etizolam, commonly known as “street valium.”
Skookum, a citizen of the Little Salmon/Carmacks First Nation, was arrested shortly after Pye died for trafficking and possession for the purpose of trafficking a controlled substance.
He was subsequently charged with manslaughter in March 2023.
Skookum originally pleaded not guilty in 2023 but changed his plea earlier this year.
Cozens accepted a joint submission from Crown counsel Kathryn Laurie and defence lawyer Jennifer Cunningham.
Both lawyers called the submission “unique” due to the number of mitigating factors in the case, such as Skookum’s FASD diagnosis, guilty plea, expressions of remorse for his part in Pye’s death and his efforts to rehabilitate himself while in pre-trial custody.
Cozens said the submission was appropriate and that the sentence would allow Skookum to receive greater support and prospects for rehabilitation.
“The circumstances of the offence and offender before me justify a sentence at the lower end of the range,” he said.
With time accounted for spent in pre-trial custody, Skookum sentence has already been served.
He’s now back in jail for unrelated charges.
The sentencing is the first of its kind of Yukon with the potential to be precedent-setting. In recent years police in other jurisdictions including B.C., Alberta and Saskatchewan have laid manslaughter charges in relation to overdose deaths.
Family decries sentencing
But Pye’s sister, Karen, called the sentence “a disgrace” and “a slap on the wrist.”
“(Skookum’s) getting away with what he did. Two years isn’t long enough,” she said.
“My family and myself are (broken hearted). My niece and two nephews have to live without their mother…There is no justice – not when it comes to my sister.”
Karen likewise expressed frustration with the reading of her mother’s victim impact statement. Cozens said he was unable to read portions of the statement into the public record because they weren’t admissible.
“My mother took the time and days to write what she felt, knowing how hard it was – she still did it,” Karen said. “We’ve been waiting for this. It was like my sister’s case was nothing.”
“(Skookum) gets to walk free…Whatever I say isn’t going to bring my sister back.”
