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By Curtis Galbraith

Trials ordered in manslaughter, drug cases at Grande Prairie court

Dec 8, 2017 | 1:15 PM

Trial ordered in manslaughter case

A Grande Prairie woman facing a manslaughter charge has been ordered to stand trial.

Barbara Wright was charged in May of last year after Sherra Eckert died.

At the time, police said they had responded to an assault complaint and Eckert had told them she was attacked by a tenant. She passed away a couple days later.

A trial date for Wright has not been set.

She was in Grande Prairie court for a preliminary hearing Monday and Tuesday.

 

Trial set in drug case

A man with the street name Fresh will stand trial in a Grande Prairie drug case.

The trial for Arte Abdillah Jama will be held June 29, 2018.

He and another man were arrested in March of 2015 after RCMP seized over $400,000 cash, more than 900 grams of cocaine, more than 500 fentanyl pills and some crystal meth. and heroin during four different searches.

Those searches came about after a nine-month investigation.

The second man arrested in this case, Abdilkarim Farah, was given a 15-month jail sentence after he pleaded guilty to one of two charges he was facing. A second count was withdrawn.

 

Warrant issued after man fails to show for trial

A warrant has been issued after a Saskatchewan man facing charges after some guns were stolen from a Beaverlodge-area home failed to show up for his trial Thursday in Grande Prairie court.

Jeremia Johnston was charged in late February after a break-in at a rural home. Guns and other property were taken. The suspect vehicle was later abandoned and set on fire in the Elmworth area. Johnston was arrested a short time later.

A woman also charged in the case, Desiree Johnstone of Hythe, was given a four-year jail sentence back in July after guilty pleas to four charges. She had been facing 13 counts. 

by Curtis Galbraith