THUNDER BAY — The sisters of Barbara Kentner admit it’s been a stressful couple of weeks awaiting the verdict for the man accused in the death of their sister more than three years ago.
Connie and Melissa Kentner were among dozens of people at a rally in Thunder Bay on Sunday, meant to raise awareness of the racism Indigenous people face in the city and to honour Kentner's life and legacy.
The rally was organized by local group Not One More Death. Many who attended held signs bearing phrases of support, such as 'Justice for Barbara' and 'Indigenous Lives Matter,' as passing vehicles honked their horns in solidarity.
"It's awesome to have this support," Melissa said.
Kentner, a 34-year-old mother of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, was struck by a metal trailer hitch in January 2017. She died six months later from complications due to her injury.
Brayden Bushby, the man accused in Kentner’s death, pleaded guilty to one count of aggravated assault and not guilty to manslaughter. A Thunder Bay Superior Court judge is expected to deliver her verdict on the case on Monday at 2 p.m.
Bushby’s four-day trial on the single manslaughter charge took place more than a month ago, and Kentner’s sisters say it’s been “nerve-wracking” awaiting the result.
“We just want a good outcome and justice for my sister,” Connie said.
Regardless of Monday’s verdict, the result can’t change the fact that their sister is gone, Melissa said.
“There is no satisfaction,” she said. “He took my sister’s life.”
Bushby was originally charged with second-degree murder, but the charge was withdrawn and replaced with a charge of manslaughter by the Crown.
Anishinaabe Elder Ma-Nee Chacaby, a spokesperson for the grassroots group Not One More Death, said Sunday’s demonstration was to support the Kentner family and highlight the mistreatment of Indigenous people in the city as it relates to racism.
“Racism is very much alive in Thunder Bay. It’s alive everywhere we go, and that’s one of the things that is hurting us people,” she said.
After people gathered at the corner of Algoma Street and Red River Road, the group marched to the Courthouse Hotel on Camelot Street, where a prayer was said for Kentner and her family.
Bushby admits to throwing the metal trailer hitch at Kentner from a moving vehicle more than three years ago. Court heard Kentner and her older sister, Melissa, were walking home in the early morning hours of Jan. 29, 2017, when she was struck in the abdomen by a trailer hitch. Melissa testified during the trial she saw a person hanging out of the vehicle shortly after her sister was hit and heard someone say "I got one."
Two witness testimonies from a 2018 preliminary hearing revealed details from two friends who were with Bushby at the time of the attack. In one of the testimonies, Nathan Antoniszyn said Bushby wanted to “drive around and yell at hookers” shortly before the assault on Jan. 29, 2017. He also testified Bushby jumped out of the vehicle to retrieve the trailer hitch and initially stated he wanted to throw it through an acquaintance’s window.
Another witness testimony from Jordan Crupi stated Bushby had been drinking over the course of the day on Jan. 29, 2017, and appeared intoxicated at the time of the attack.
A forensic pathologist who conducted the post-mortem examination on Kentner’s body three days after she died stated her cause of death was complicated but ultimately concluded in her report Kentner died from bronchopneumonia and acute-on-chronic peritonitis due to a traumatic rupture in the small intestine caused by a blunt force injury to her abdomen.
Kentner’s underlying liver condition was a factor in her death, but was not an immediate cause.
The Crown alleges Bushby is guilty of her death, despite Kentner having serious underlying health conditions, while Bushby’s lawyer argues there is no legal link between the assault and Kentner’s death approximately six months later.
Justice Helen M. Pierce is expected to deliver her judgment Monday, Dec. 14, at 2 p.m.
For more coverage on the Brayden Bushby manslaughter trial, go here.
—This story was corrected at 10:30 p.m. on Sunday, Dec. 13, 2020, to correct the age of Barbara Kentner.
