By Patrick Burles - @PatrickBurles on Twitter

Woman accused of killing her mother sentenced to 8 years in prison

Nov 4, 2016 | 1:18 PM

LETHBRIDGE – It was an emotional day in court for a Lethbridge family, as 29-year old Jessica Lee Ann Praill pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter.

Praill had originally been charged with second degree murder for the stabbing death of her mother, 54-year old Shelley Kristine Praill, but the charge was replaced with one of manslaughter on Friday (Nov. 4).

Through an agreed statement of facts, it was revealed that Praill had been living with her mother, sister and several others at her mother’s north side home for several months, and that their relationship was strained. Praill’s sister told police that their mother had been emotionally abusive when they were young, with some physical abuse as well.

On April 28, 2016, Praill and her mother got into an argument over alcohol and cigarettes. Later in the evening, Praill was alone in the living room of the house, thinking about how angry she was at her mother and how she had been treated very poorly. She went to the kitchen, grabbed a knife and went into the bedroom where her mother was sleeping, stabbing her once in the side.

Praill’s sister, Jennifer, heard their mother calling out, “She stabbed me, she stabbed me in the heart,” and found Praill holding a knife and trying to leave the house. After a struggle in the front yard, the two waited for police to arrive.

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Emergency personnel took Shelley to the Chinook Regional Hospital, where she died during emergency surgery. An autopsy revealed that her heart had been lacerated.

During the sentencing portion of the proceedings, the Crown noted that the crime wasn’t spontaneous or random, and that the victim was completely defenseless when she was attacked. He then acknowledged that Praill had been very forthcoming with police, that she had no criminal record and that she only stabbed her mother once.

Praill’s lawyer, Tracy Hembroff, told the court that from the first time they met, Praill never denied or diminished her actions and wanted to take responsibility. She added that Praill did not expect any sympathy from her family for what she had done.

Her sister, struggling through tears in the courtroom gallery, responded by saying, “I just want to hug her and let her know I’m not mad.”

The judge agreed with a joint submission from the Crown and defence on sentencing, handing Praill eight years in a federal penitentiary. She was given a credit of one and a half days for each day spent in pre-trial custody, which takes 288 days off her sentence.

Outside the courthouse, Hembroff spoke to the media, calling the case a tragedy for everyone involved.

“She was feeling a tremendous amount of pressure, for lack of a better word, that things were building up, that she didn’t know where her own mind was, that somehow or another she had developed this extreme dislike of her mom… and I think at the time a lot of other things going on in Jessica’s life complicated that, fertilized that, and for whatever reason – and I honestly can’t tell you to the depths of any meaning – my client went and stabbed her mom one time,” Hembroff stated.

She also touched on the comments she made to the court.

“My client had made it very clear to me that she didn’t expect sympathy from anybody, she didn’t want anybody to feel sorry for her, and she understood if her family never, ever spoke to her again.

“I don’t know that anybody would have any sympathy for her loss, I really don’t,” Hembroff continued. “It takes a real big person to say, ‘Alright, she’s made her mistake, she’s paying for it,’ and God knows, I hope somebody helps her when she gets out. I’ve put myself out there, as I do with all my clients, because sometimes they’ve got nothing, and she’s had nobody for the last six months or so I guess, maybe even more.”