Prison for siblings and cousin who killed man over threat from child

Two siblings and a cousin have been sentenced to lengthy prison terms for the killing of a stranger that was sparked by a “hollow threat” from an 11-year-old boy.

“Their actions can only be described as an outrageous, incomprehensible overreaction to an insult from a child,” Court of King’s Bench Justice Sadie Bond said at a sentencing hearing last week for siblings Ramona Harper and Raoul Harper and their cousin Kyle Harper.

Ramona Harper, 23, and Raoul Harper, 20, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the August 2023 killing of 38-year-old Cory Roulette and were sentenced to seven years in prison. Twenty-six-year-old Kyle Harper, who wielded the sawed-off rifle that killed Roulette, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced to life in prison with no chance of parole for 12 years.

“Gun violence is all too common in our city,” Bond said. “Residents need to know that they can feel safe in public places and in their homes. Those who instigate and participate in gun violence must face serious consequences.”

At a sentencing hearing last summer, family members described Roulette as a kind and caring family-oriented man who “wouldn’t hurt a fly.”

“Remarkably, some (family members) also spoke of the possibility of forgiveness,” Bond said last week. “That they spoke of it at all is a testament to their resilience and deep love for their brother and family. Their words are powerful, and I sincerely hope that Ramona, Raoul and Kyle will take them to heart.”

An agreed statement of facts previously provided to court says Ramona Harper and another woman were walking past Roulette’s Furby Street apartment building at about 11 p.m. when Harper kicked over garbage cans, attracting the attention of an 11-year-old boy who was visiting Roulette and standing on his second-floor balcony.

The boy and Harper yelled at each other, and the boy threatened to shoot Harper.

Harper left, saying, “I’m going to get my brothers and shoot the place up.”

Ramona returned to her Langside Street home a short walk away and “incited” Kyle and Raoul to accompany her to the apartment building and “violently confront” the occupant of the second-floor suite. All three had been drinking and were intoxicated.

Kyle was armed with a loaded, sawed-off rifle and Raoul with a collapsible baton when the trio broke down the door to Roulette’s suite.

Once inside, Raoul beat Roulette with the baton before Kyle Harper shot him once in the chest.

The offenders fled and a neighbour called 911. Roulette was taken to Health Sciences Centre where he was pronounced dead a short time later.

Raoul Harper and Ramona Harper have no prior criminal records. At the time of the killing, Kyle Harper was on bail for multiple firearm offences and was wearing an ankle monitor as a condition of his release.

Security video showed Kyle Harper leaving Roulette’s apartment building shortly after the killing “wearing a GPS ankle monitor and carrying an object that resembled a firearm,” the agreed statement of facts says.

Data retrieved from the ankle monitor placed Kyle Harper in the general vicinity of the killing.

“It is troubling, to say the least, that he had such easy access to a firearm,” Bond said. “It is even more troubling that he was ready to use it on an unarmed man in his own home.”

Ramona Harper was one of two suspects identified by a tenant as having been outside Roulette’s suite just prior to the killing.

Court heard all three offenders had upbringings stained by poverty, dislocation and abuse.

Lawyers for Ramona Harper, whose actions instigated the killing, recommended she be sentenced to no more than six years in prison, and cited case law suggesting provocation was a factor in the killing.

“On the facts before me, it would be a stretch to suggest the yelling, and even the threat uttered by the 11-year-old boy toward Ramona could be considered provocation in any way relevant to the sentence to be imposed here,” Bond said.

“That Ramona would respond (to) such a minor incident with such a significant level of violence is difficult to understand.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca