Family of murdered First Nations elder Andrew Mixemong wants killer denied parole

Convicted murderer Jessy Herlichka was sentenced to life in 2015, but now he’s been granted some freedoms.

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The Midland, Ont. man convicted of second-degree murder in the vicious beating of Andrew Mixemong outside a downtown Midland deli in 2012 is one step closer to parole.

Jessy Herlichka has been granted new freedoms by the Parole Board of Canada with authorization this month of a 72-hour unescorted temporary absence (UTA) from prison where Herlichka is currently serving a life sentence for the murder of the 59-year-old First Nations man.

“They literally poured beer on a medicine man and then beat him to death,” said his nephew, James Mixemong. “What would happen if that happened to a priest?”

Mixemong demands the man responsible for his uncle’s murder serve life in prison and be denied parole for a crime the judge in 2015 described as a “profound disrespect for human life” in the “‘merciless beating of a defenceless vulnerable individual.”

“This entity, because he’s not a person, I don’t fee like this entity should be released into the general public,” said Mixemong’s nephew.

Herlichka, now 39, was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 10 years in June 2015. The Parole Board of Canada has now granted him the three-day unescorted temporary absence to visit a community-based residential facility (CBRF) and get accustomed to life outside prison walls for “administrative” purposes, including meeting staff.

The facility is not to be in the geographic area where any of the victim’s family live, according to the parole board.

Herlichka’s co-accused, Paul McClung, was released in 2022, according to the parole board, following a seven-year sentence for manslaughter.

Herlichka blamed being drunk and high prior to killing Mixemong. He recently spent 60 days in an alcohol treatment centre, according to the parole board, which considers Herlichka a low-risk to public safety.

Mixemong’s family disagrees with granting Herlichka any freedoms for the senseless killing of a respected community leader and spiritual healer. Mixemong was picking his wife up from work outside a downtown Midland deli on the night he was killed by Herlichka, who told the parole board he was struggling with addiction to opioids and alcohol following the loss of his father and a breakup with his girlfriend at the time. He claimed McClung encouraged him to beat Mixemong.

Mixemong’s nephew believes Herlichka should remain in prison for taking an innocent man’s life and is appealing to the parole board to deny his future release from custody.

“I’m asking you to hold them accountable because karma will,” he said.

Mixemong died in hospital after suffering organ damage, a broken jaw and bones in his face and ribs when he was slammed repeatedly into a dumpster and kicked while on the ground.

“My uncle even told them, ‘Guys, don’t do this. Make a better decision,’ you know, ‘Move on with your night, go. Go on with your day,’ No, they chose. They chose, they knew what they were doing,” said Mixemong’s nephew.

The parole board said Herlichka is not to consume drugs or alcohol as he recognizes doing so causes him to become aggressive and violent. He is also not to communicate or come into contact with family members of Andrew Mixemong.

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