A dog owner has been given a conditional sentence to be served in the community after her two pets mauled an 11-year-old boy to death in south Edmonton.
Crystal MacDonald stared straight ahead, occasionally wiping tears from her eyes, as Court of King’s Bench Justice Eric Macklin delivered the sentence Thursday.
The term is two years less a day.
“A sentence served in the community still denounces the crime of criminal negligence causing death and, more specifically, keeping dangerous animals and failing to properly ensure the protection and safety of others, especially children,” Macklin said.
“Ms. MacDonald is fully aware of the consequences of her actions and inactions, and there is no suggestion that she might engage in future behaviour such as that which brought her before the court in this case.”
Macklin also allowed MacDonald to serve her sentence in Penticton, B.C., where she has been living with her mother.
He imposed a lifetime ban on dog ownership, but said she could bring forward an application in 10 years to lift such prohibition.
MacDonald, 46, was found guilty of criminal negligence causing death in May after her two cane corsos attacked her roommate’s son, Kache Grist, in her home in the Summerside neighbourhood in April 2024.
At trial, court heard Kache, who lived in British Columbia with his mother, was in Edmonton visiting his father for spring break.
An autopsy found the child died from bite injuries to the neck. The dogs were later euthanized.
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Wesley Grist, Kache’s father, told court Wednesday in his victim impact statement that MacDonald loved his son and should not go to prison.
“The court has legal responsibilities and sentencing considerations they must follow, and I respect that,” he told the court by video from the Yukon.
He said both he and MacDonald will have to live with the burden of the boy’s death.
The Crown sought a five-year prison sentence for MacDonald and a lifetime ban on dog ownership. The defence asked for a conditional sentence of two years less a day.
MacDonald testified during trial that she repeatedly told Kache’s father not to leave the boy alone with her dogs.
She said she didn’t approve of Kache staying at her home and tried to get the dogs into a boarding kennel, but they lacked the required vaccinations.
Before Kache’s death, the dogs had killed two pets and injured three adults, including MacDonald.
Grist testified that he was in the garage when his son was killed. He had allowed the boy to go inside to play a new video game while he finished cleaning up tools.
About 45 minutes later, Grist found his son lying in a pool of blood on the kitchen floor with the dogs surrounding him.
The judge told MacDonald that simply warning Grist about the dogs was not enough.
Macklin said there were multiple things MacDonald could have done, such as keeping the dogs leashed or chained in the backyard, locking them in their kennels or finding another place for the boy to stay.
Macklin also said at the time that he found MacDonald evasive and defensive during her testimony.
“She consistently attempted to either cast blame elsewhere and minimize her own responsibilities,” he said.
MacDonald said Wednesday during her sentencing hearing that she thinks about Kache every single day.
“There is no sentence that this court could impose on me that could make me feel the weight of this loss more than I already do,” she said.
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