VANCOUVER — The families of two First Nations men who were killed in separate incidents in recent years addressed the chiefs at the AFN’s General Assembly last week — pleading for action after acquittals in both cases.
Jon Styres, a 29-year-old man from Six Nations in Ontario, was shot twice and killed in February 2014 after he was found rummaging through Peter Khill’s pickup truck in the early morning hours.
Khill admitted he killed Styres, but pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder, saying he fired in self-defence when he thought Styres was pointing a gun at him.
A jury found him not guilty in June, but the Crown has since announced an appeal to the acquittal.
Debbie Baptiste cried and held a photo of her son Colten Boushie, who was fatally shot in August 2016 on a rural property near Biggar, Sask. She told chiefs not to let his death be forgotten.
“I don’t want a whole bunch of families lined up behind me telling the same story,” she said. “That was my son, that was my baby,” she said to chiefs who responded with a standing ovation. (with CP files)
