Winnipeg court news: Crown prosecutors asked a Manitoba judge on Tuesday to keep Jamie Felix locked up for 25 years before he can even ask for parole, the longest stretch the law allows for the five people he shot dead in a Winnipeg rooming house in 2023.
By Maplestime News Desk | Winnipeg, Manitoba | November 10, 2026
Sources: CBC News, CTV News Winnipeg, Court of King’s Bench of Manitoba | Last updated: November 10, 2026
Key Takeaways
- Crown attorney Chantal Boutin asked Justice Alain Huberdeau for 25 years without parole, the maximum for second degree murder, on top of the automatic life sentence Felix already faces.
- A jury found Felix, 35, guilty in March of five counts of second degree murder for the November 26, 2023 shootings on Langside Street in West Broadway.
- The court heard nearly two dozen victim impact statements on Tuesday from loved ones of the five victims.
- The defence has not yet made its case. The sentencing hearing continues Thursday with arguments from Felix’s lawyers, and no date has been set for the judge’s decision.
The Crown’s Case for the Maximum
Boutin told the court the gravity of the offences and Felix’s high degree of responsibility demand the maximum. She said Felix grew up around substance abuse and violence, but the evidence did not show enough insight, behavioural stability or rehabilitation to justify a shorter period.
The jury accepted that Felix made a conscious decision to carry a gun into the suite, open fire and run away, even after drinking and using drugs, Boutin said. She pointed to the shootings and to incidents while Felix has been in custody as proof of a side capable of extreme violence that the public needs protection from.
She also told the court it must hold together two realities: the experiences that shaped Felix as the Indigenous man before the court, and the violent, intentional acts that killed five people.
For second degree murder, the parole ineligibility period runs from 10 to 25 years. The life sentence itself is automatic.
The Five Victims
The five people killed on November 26, 2023 were Melelek Leseri Lesikel, 29, Dylan Maxwell Lavallee, 41, Shawn Marko, 56, and sisters Crystal Shannon Beardy, 34, and Stephanie Amanda Beardy, 33. The shooting took about eight seconds inside the rooming house on Langside Street, which was described in court as a crack shack.
Two victims were pronounced dead at the scene and two more died shortly after in hospital. Marko survived in hospital for 18 months and died last year. He had been put on life support three times.
What Happened in Court on Tuesday
Felix was brought into the courtroom by two sheriffs, wearing a grey sweatshirt and pants with his ankles shackled, and sat in a wooden prisoner’s box. He sat quietly through the Crown’s submissions, sometimes crossing his arms, in a courtroom filled with the victims’ loved ones.
Nearly two dozen victim impact statements were read. Lavallee’s mother, Kelley Lavallee, spoke directly to Felix, telling him he took a son from his mother, a brother from his sister, an uncle from a niece and nephew, and a father from his children, and that “it wasn’t yours to take.”
Beardy’s daughter Kathleen Beardy Smith spoke about losing her mother, and their mother Beverley Beardy said losing her daughters put a big hole in her heart. Lesikel’s mother, Therese Nduku, had her statement read from Kenya. Marko’s sister, Melissa Marko, described watching her brother suffer in hospital for 18 months.
What Happens Next
The defence has not yet argued its position. The sentencing hearing is scheduled to continue on Thursday, when Felix’s lawyers will make their arguments. The CBC report gave no date for Justice Huberdeau’s sentencing decision.
Maplestime will provide updates from the Jamie Felix sentencing hearing as announcements are made.
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