Man sentenced to eight years for flinging trailer hitch at Barbara Kentner is released

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A man who was given eight years in prison for killing an Indigenous woman by throwing a trailer hitch at her from a moving vehicle has been released on day parole, two years after he was sentenced.

Brayden Bushby, 24, was granted day parole for a period of six months by the Parole Board of Canada on August 10, but was denied full parole, according to the board’s written decision.

The board placed several conditions on Mr. Bushby’s release, including that he not consume alcohol and that he have no contact with the family of his victim. The board said in its decision that it didn’t believe he was likely to reoffend, but that it had concerns about his emotional and impulsive behaviour, after an incident in the minimum security facility where he was serving his sentence.

Mr. Bushby was initially charged with aggravated assault after the Jan. 29, 2017 attack on Barbara Kentner, which took place in Thunder Bay, Ont. He was 18 at the time.

After Ms. Kentner, a 34-year-old Anishinaabe woman, died in July, 2017, the Crown upgraded that charge to second-degree murder before reducing it to manslaughter weeks before Mr. Bushby’s 2020 trial. He was found guilty of manslaughter in December, 2020.

The case drew national attention and stoked public outrage in a city that had already struggled with controversy over many highly publicized incidents of violence and racism against Indigenous people.

Ms. Kentner and her sister Melissa were walking close to their home after midnight when Mr. Bushby, who had been drinking heavily and cruising the city with friends, hung out the window of a car in which he was a passenger and hurled a trailer hitch at the women. It struck Ms. Kentner in the stomach, rupturing her small intestine, and she required emergency surgery.

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When Ms. Kentner died six months later, the forensic pathologist who performed her autopsy said the causes were bronchopneumonia and acute chronic peritonitis. She determined that both were consequences of a “traumatic rupture of the small intestine” caused by the blunt-force injury.

Most offenders are eligible for day parole either six months before they are eligible for full parole, or six months into their sentences, whichever is longer. Offenders on day parole are required to return nightly to residential facilities, halfway houses or other locations authorized by the board.

Mr. Bushby had no previous criminal record, and was released from custody shortly after his 2017 arrest. Both of these things supported the parole board’s decision, according to its report.

“The family and the community will continue to mourn and struggle with the senseless nature of the offence,” the decision says. “However, the lack of prior criminal history coupled with your four years under pretrial release leads the Board to conclude that your criminal and conditional release history mitigates your risk of reoffending.”

The Correctional Service of Canada recommended to the parole board that Mr. Bushby be granted day parole for six months, followed by full parole, the report says. The service also told the board Mr. Bushby had “expressed remorse and displayed victim empathy for the victim, her family and the Indigenous community.”

Melissa Kentner told The Globe and Mail that Mr. Bushby’s release, which she learned of from a neighbour, has been stressful and has caused her panic attacks.

The Ontario Native Women’s Association said in a statement that it does not support the parole board’s decision, and that it stands by the Kentner family. It added that the decision to grant day parole is another example of discrimination against Indigenous people, and is “the result of systemic racism, sexism and past and present colonialism.” The provincial advocacy group provided a community impact statement at Mr. Bushby’s sentencing hearing in June, 2021.

“Bushby’s actions cannot be viewed in a vacuum, but as interconnected to the reality of living in a society that normalizes violence against Indigenous women,” the association’s chief executive officer, Cora McGuire-Cyrette, said in the statement.

“The parole board’s decision signals to Indigenous women in Canada that they cannot expect their right to safety to be upheld, and that their lives are not valued.”