A man who stabbed a Sault Ste. Marie woman to death in 2023 and tried to kill another victim has been sentenced to life in prison, with no eligibility for parole for 15 years. Steven Jones, now 27, was high on crystal meth and going through a mental health crisis when he entered Taylor Marshall’s apartment on Sept. 7, 2023, through an open window. He stabbed her more than 100 times with a screwdriver before heading to the Sault boardwalk, where he stabbed Liam Frenette, who was seriously injured but managed to ward off the attack. Jones was arrested a short time later at the Station Mall. He was first charged with attempted murder for attacking Frenette, then murder when Marshall’s body was discovered. Superior Court Justice Michael Vapiro announced the sentence at an Aug. 25 hearing in the Sault courthouse. In his decision, Vapiro wrote that Jones arrived in the Sault on Sept. 1 of that year, arriving by bus from Toronto to visit his father. He was struggling with drug addiction at the time. On Sept. 6, he fell into the St. Marys River and ended up swimming to the United States. “He was ultimately apprehended in that country and returned to Canada on Sept. 7,” Vapiro wrote. “Upon being released at the border, he walked over to Ms. Taylor Marshall’s apartment which was located near the border ... She died an awful death.” His murder trial began in January 2026, but partway through he pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and attempted murder. Vapiro accepted a joint defence and Crown submission of life in jail with no parole eligibility for 15 years. In supplying his reason, the judge said Marshall was beloved by her family and friends. She was living with her boyfriend and had just interviewed for a job at a fitness centre the day she was slain. “She was described as being a true friend, feisty, and full of life,” Vapiro said. “Like all people, she faced adversity in her life and she had the courage to overcome the issues she faced. In short, she appeared to be the kind of young woman any parent, family member, or friend would be proud of.” Through the many victim impact statements filed with the court, he said the pain her murder has caused “is as awful as any pain I can imagine.” Frenette also filed a victim impact statement, but he asked that its details be kept private. “With that said, the impact of the offence has been significant upon him,” Vapiro wrote. As for Jones, he is the descendant of residential school survivors and endured a chaotic upbringing. He went into foster care when he was three or four and has been “poor all his life.” He got into fights at school and became a father at age 17. Jones said he believes he has ADHD and PTSD and began using cannabis, crack, MDMA and other drugs at a young age. “Unsurprisingly, Mr. Jones would experience bouts of homelessness as he bounced from one domicile to another,” Vapiro wrote. At the time of the murder and attempted murder, Jones said he was in a “bad way.” “Mr. Jones believes that, when he was stopped at the border, he was suffering from sleep deprivation, psychosis or schizophrenia,” the judge wrote. “He was paranoid at the time he was arrested and he cannot remember much of what happened ... During his allocution, Mr. Jones apologized to the victims and their families. He accepted responsibility for his actions, stating that ‘prison is what I deserve, maybe worse.’” In agreeing to the joint submission on a sentence for Jones, Vapiro said this was a particularly challenging decision. “This is a difficult case because there appears to be no logic to it, no reason for the crime,” he wrote. “The randomness of the attack appears to have no explanation, although one can surmise that drugs and mental illness may have played a role.” While no sentence can remove the trauma experienced by Marshall’s loved ones or what Frenette has endured, Vapiro said it does send the message “that society will punish those who commit murder with the heaviest punishment known to our courts.” “I am sure that no amount of jail time for Mr. Jones can assuage Ms. Marshall’s family’s pain,” he wrote. “They have my deepest condolences.” Read the full decision here.
