Eight year sentence for death of indigenous woman Barbara Kentner

A man who killed an indigenous woman by throwing a trailer hitch at her from a moving car has been handed an eight-year prison term by a Canadian court.

Brayden Bushby, then 18, threw the metal hitch, striking Barbara Kentner, 34, in the abdomen while she was walking with her sister in 2017.

According to trial evidence, Bushby said he "got one" after hitting her.

He had admitted to the attack at the outset of the trial and pleaded guilty to aggravated assault.

After a trial, he was convicted of manslaughter in December 2020.

The attack occurred on the morning of 29 January 2017 in Thunder Bay, Ontario.

Ms Kentner, an Anishinaabe woman, required bowel surgery after the attack and died six months later.

Monday's sentencing had been due to be held in May, but was delayed due to pandemic court closures.

According to CBC News, crown prosecutors had sought a sentence of eight to 12 years, while lawyers for Bushby had argued for four years in jail.

Indigenous leaders had called for the incident to be treated as a hate crime.

"As you now know, Barbara Kentner's family was shattered by losing a special person," Justice Helen Peirce told Bushby before reading his sentence, according to the Net News Ledger in Thunder Bay.

"The crown does not claim you targeted indigenous women, but I have concluded you knew you were targeting women."

"Residents of this city are angry at what you have done," the judge added. "Residents are offended that citizens can't walk the streets safely in our community."

Thunder Bay is a city of about 100,000 in northern Ontario. In 2011, 10% of the city's population was indigenous, compared to about 4% across the country.