Woman sentenced to two years in prison for helping 2021 killer escape: N.S. court

The Nova Scotia Court of Appeal and Supreme Court is pictured. (Callum Smith/CTV News Atlantic)

The Supreme Court of Nova Scotia has sentenced a woman to two years in prison for helping her then-boyfriend escape after he murdered his mother’s partner in Dartmouth, N.S.

A judge and jury trial was set to begin June 3, but on Friday Tatiana Cox pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to murder, according to court documents.

Case background

Tatiana and Tyere Divell Brushett had been temporarily living with Brushett’s mother and her live-in partner Vincent Lamont Beals at a home on Kennedy Drive at the time of the murder.

On Dec. 15, 2021, while his mother was at work, Tyere, his brother Deion, and Vincent were at the home together, along with Tatiana.

Court documents state Tyere and his brother got into an argument, leading to a physical altercation between the brothers and Vincent.

At one point, Deion threw Tatiana, who was 20 years old and pregnant, to the kitchen floor.

Accessory after the fact to murder

According to the court’s statement of facts, when the fight ended, the couple left the residence at 2:24 a.m. and the brothers threatened to kill each other.

Tatiana drove Tyere to acquire a gun then returned to the residence, where Vincent was asleep.

“Tyere punched Vincent in the head while he was laying on the couch. Vincent got up and put his hands up to fight. Tyere said, ‘I’m not fighting you,’ and shot Vincent in the head. Vincent died immediately,” state the court documents.

They immediately left the residence, and Tatiana began to talk about how she could help Tyere get away with the shooting, even suggesting fleeing Nova Scotia.

She told him to leave the gun and jacket in the car, and she would take care of it, dropping him off and disposing of the items, which have never been recovered.

The couple went to Tyere’s mother’s workplace and tried to convince her they could make the shooting look like a robbery, but she refused.

She alerted the police and on Dec. 19, 2021, they tracked Tyere’s phone to the Annapolis Royal Inn. The couple was arrested there.

The judge’s decision

Tyere was tried before a judge and jury for second-degree murder in April 2024, then on July 12, 2024, convicted to life in prison with no chance of parole for 13 years.

The court considered Tatiana’s driving Tyere to get the firearm, her presence during the murder, and her offer to dispose of the weapon and drive them to the Annapolis Royal Inn.

The two-year prison sentence was a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence. Justice James Chipman also considered some mitigating factors, like her being a youthful offender and her guilty plea, accepting responsibility.

“A federal sentence of two-years imprisonment appropriately emphasizes deterrence and denunciation and considers Ms. Cox’s youthfulness, Indigenous background, her acceptance of responsibility by entering a guilty plea in advance of trail, and her relative level of involvement in the aftermath of Vincent’s death,” reads Chipman’s decision.

Tatiana will be on probation for two years following her prison sentence. She has also been ordered to submit a DNA sample and is prohibited from owning firearms for 10 years.

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