Man says he doesn’t remember stabbing stranger in downtown Saskatoon

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In the middle of the day in downtown Saskatoon, Tyrell Koby Mosquito chased down a stranger and stabbed him in what was described as an unprovoked attack.

He immediately biked away, changed his clothes in a nearby alley and got rid of his bike, Crown prosecutor David Piché told a Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench judge during Mosquito’s sentencing hearing on Friday.

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James Stuart, 35, died from a single stab wound to the heart. According to the facts presented in court, Mosquito and two others approached him in front of a coffee shop in the 200 block of 20th Street West just before 2 p.m. on Feb. 19, 2024.

Court heard witnesses saw Stuart running away from Mosquito, who pursued him while swinging a red Milwaukee folding knife at his back.

Mosquito and Stuart had never met before that day.

Based on surveillance footage, Mosquito was arrested the next day, but was too intoxicated to give a police statement. He later told police that he was “blackout drunk” and high on meth, and didn’t remember the stabbing.

Mosquito, 25, was charged with second-degree murder. Last month, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

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On Friday, Justice Mona Dovell sentenced him to nine years in prison.

Arguing for an 11-year sentence, Piché said Mosquito’s post-offence behaviour suggests he remembers more than he’s willing to admit. He said the stabbing was deliberate and falls into the category of “near murder” on the sentencing range of four to 12 years for manslaughter.

Piché noted Mosquito’s 57 prior convictions — mostly for property, weapons and drug offences — and 13 remand incidents between March 2024 and this February.

Mosquito is a known gang member, but lawyers stressed that the killing wasn’t gang-related.

Two people came to court for his sentencing: a woman supporting Mosquito, and a victim services worker.

Court heard Stuart, who is from Alberta, didn’t have many family members when he was killed. Piché read a victim impact statement written by his aunt, who said Stuart’s mother was young and he was put in foster care shortly after his birth.

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Despite their efforts, his family couldn’t find out where he was living. After his mother died, Stuart’s aunt tracked him down on Facebook. She said she was proud of what he’d done with his life when they eventually saw each other.

Piché told court that Stuart’s family ultimately “missed out on his presence, more than once.”

Defence lawyer Jared Aumiller said social services was also involved in Mosquito’s life since his “first breath.” Born with drugs in his system, he was diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, and later, drug-induced psychosis.

Aumiller said Mosquito — one of 14 children from young parents with substance-use disorders — didn’t have much of a chance at a “normal life.”

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He joined a gang at 15, and relied on it for protection in jail. He consumed any drugs that were available, and used intravenous drugs with his mother before she died in 2019.

Around the time of the killing, Mosquito was living in shelters and on the street, his days spent searching for alcohol and drugs, Aumiller said.

He urged the court to consider his client’s past when contextualizing such a senseless killing. He asked for an eight-year sentence, saying Mosquito just happened to stab Stuart in the “worst spot possible.” He argued Mosquito didn’t intend to kill Stuart, but knew he would cause “serious personal injury.”

Standing up to address the court, Mosquito said “I feel sorry for what I did. I didn’t mean to kill James Stuart. I feel sorry for his family.”

With 584 days of enhanced remand credit, Mosquito has just over seven years remaining on his nine-year prison term.

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