Three Sask. men sentenced in home invasion killing

Three men who forced their way into the home of Jason Horse before he was shot and killed have all pleaded guilty to their crimes and avoided the need for trials.

On Monday, Tyrone Nepoose pleaded guilty to manslaughter at Saskatoon’s Court of King’s Bench, admitting he was the one who fired shotgun and killed Horse on Feb. 17, 2024. He pleaded guilty on what was expected to be a lengthy trial.

Similarly, two others charged in the home invasion who initially pleaded not guilty to manslaughter, decided to plead guilty to break and enter after the manslaughter charges were stayed.

Robin Stone, 36, was sentenced to five years in prison. With time served on remand, he will spend just short of two more years in prison.

Randy Brabant, 38, was sentenced to a three-and-a-half-year sentence. With some of his time already served, Brabant has just over six months remaining.

The court heard the three men, fueled by drugs and alcohol that night, forced their way into a home on Avenue I South after a person living there answered the door. Nepoose went to different areas of the house demanding drugs or money from the people who lived there as Stone kept a resident from leaving. Brabant paced back and forth inside the home.

Nepoose then went into the bedroom and demanded cell phones, money or drugs from Horse and his partner Christopher Stone. Nepoose waved the gun back and forth and accidentally shot off a gun he later described to police as double-barreled, double-trigger, over-under shotgun that was old.

The three men scattered from the home after the shots. When police arrived, Horse was lying in a pool of blood suffering from his wounds. He later died from gunshot wounds to his knee and buttocks.

Victim impact statements described Horse as a kind and compassionate man who pledged and remained sober following the birth of his child decades earlier.

“What has happened in the wake of this senseless tragedy is insurmountable, pain, loss, sorrow,” a victim services worker reading a statement from Christopher Stone, Horse’s partner, said.

Lawyers told the court Brabant believed the trio was there to get Nepoose’s bike. Nepoose previously told police they paid the home a visit because someone living there was bothering Stone.

The court heard they were homeless at the time and had a long history of drug addiction.

“Be real men for the rest of your lives,” Roderick Horse, the brother of Jason, said in his statement.

Robin Stone didn’t speak in court when given the opportunity. However, his lawyer said he was friends and family with the victims. Brabant was tearful at times during his sentencing.

“I just want to say sorry for what happened. I’m going to try to do right from now on,” he said.