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Heartbreaking sufferer influence statements from household of slain Calgary police Sgt. Andrew Harnett was learn aloud throughout his killer’s sentencing listening to on Thursday.
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“My final phrases to him have been ‘Glad New 12 months, I like you endlessly, be protected,'” Valerie Harnett instructed Choose Anna LoParco.
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“Just a few quick hours later I used to be woken up by Andrew’s brother, Jason, . . . stated to me, “Mother, that is Andrew, Andrew was killed.”
The officer’s widow, Chelsea Goedhart, additionally addressed the court docket, detailing the devastating impact his loss of life had on her and their son, who was born months after Harnett’s homicide.
“Andrew’s loss of life fully shattered my life and in a single case took away all our hopes and desires for the longer term we had deliberate,” Goedhart instructed the court docket listening to in King’s Bench.
“I used to be compelled to navigate my being pregnant alone throughout an already isolating international pandemic, put together for the arrival of our child alone, and at last sit again in a hospital room alone with out Andrew to present delivery to our son.”
Choose earlier dominated that the youth didn’t intend to trigger Harnett’s loss of life
A 20-year-old man, who can’t be named as a result of he was days shy of his 18th birthday on the time, is being sentenced for manslaughter within the New 12 months’s Eve 2020 loss of life of Harnett.
The offender chased Harnett almost 400 meters alongside Falconridge Dr. NE towed whereas fleeing a visitors cease. The officer grabbed the facet of the car as he approached to ticket the younger man for not having his headlights on correctly.
He was charged with first-degree homicide, however LoParco dominated he didn’t intend to trigger the devastating impact when Harnett fell from the car and into the trail of an oncoming automotive.
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![Police investigate the scene at Falconridge Drive and Falsbridge Drive NE after a CPS member was killed on Friday, January 1, 2021.](https://smartcdn.gprod.postmedia.digital/calgaryherald/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/0113-harnett-1.jpg?quality=90&strip=all&w=288&sig=Y0s6MNeHs-5Kq9bScM5hhQ)
Crown prosecutor Mike Ewenson is in search of a mature sentence for the offender, arguing the convicted killer – who was simply days shy of his 18th birthday – was mature sufficient to be handled as one.
Ewenson stated Wednesday that an applicable sentence can be 11 to 13 years in jail.
Protection lawyer Zachary Al-Khatib will make submissions Friday on why a youth sentence is warranted.
The utmost sentence below the Juvenile Prison Justice Act for manslaughter is three years, consisting of two years in custody and one below group supervision.
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‘You ended so many desires and created a nightmare that may by no means stop to exist’
LoParco additionally heard from two of Harnett’s brothers, Jason and Chris, in addition to fellow officer Keegan Metz.
“You’re a merciless, egocentric coward,” Jason stated, addressing the offender straight.
“You had a number of alternatives to vary the course of your future, our future and most significantly Andrew’s future, however you did not,” he stated.
“You simply did not cease, you did not cease it from taking place.”
Chris Harnett added: “You’ve gotten ended so many desires and created a nightmare that may by no means stop to exist.”
Harnett’s family members additionally expressed outrage that the perpetrator instructed the incident might have been racially motivated (the perpetrator is Black) and that he fled as a result of the deceased pulled his gun — claims LoParco dismissed as lies.
The decide will determine on Could 10 whether or not an grownup sentence is suitable and can hear additional sentencing submissions on Could 31.
KMartin@postmedia.com
Twitter: @KMartinCourts