Sherman Whitford, convicted in the death of 17-month old Veronica Poitras, has been sentenced to three and a half more years in jail.
The 38-year-old Whitford was originally charged with second-degree murder, a charge that was later changed to manslaughter, in connection with the death of the baby girl from Cold Lake, which occurred in August of 2017.
He was found guilty after a three-week trial in St.Paul back in November of 2019 and was supposed to be sentenced back in March, but this was delayed due to the COVID-19 outbreak.
It was alleged that Poitrais’ death happened when she was left in his care and her mother, Whitford’s girlfriend at the time, went to do some grocery shopping. Poitras was then brought to a hospital in the Edmonton area to treat head and neck injuries, but she was taken off life support three days later.
Whitford was given a sentence of eight years, with credit for four and a half years time served. This means he has three and a half more years, a sentence agreed upon by the Crown and Defense. This also includes some “enhanced credit” for time Whitford served in solitary confinement.
Whitford, when released, will be under a mandatory weapons prohibition order for the next ten years.
