Two Thunder Bay women have been sentenced to eight years in prison in connection with a 2010 homicide.
Verna Patricia Sturgeon, 30, of Kitchenuhmaykoosib Inninuwug First Nation, was found beaten to death in a room inside the Travelodge Airlane hotel on Arthur Street in Sept. 2010.
Officers with the Thunder Bay Police Service initially charged 29-year-old Michelle Morris and 34-year-old Joanne Vivier with first-degree murder.
The two pleaded guilty to the reduced charge of manslaughter in June 2011.
On Wednesday, Justice Joyce Pelletier handed down her sentence of eight years to both women, saying the crime resembled murder more than manslaughter.
Defence lawyers for the two women say although they were seeking a shorter prison term, they are satisfied with the sentences handed down.
Vivier and Morris have already served about 18 months behind bars.
They'll have to spend just more than five years in prison after receiving credit for time already served.
(Thunder Bay Television)
