By Erika Rolling

Court

12 year sentence handed down for 2014 Grande Prairie murder

Apr 3, 2024 | 12:18 PM

Over a year after a new trial was ordered, an Edmonton man has been sentenced to 12 years in prison for the fatal shooting of a Grande Prairie man nearly a decade ago.

The Alberta Court of Appeal ordered a re-trial for the case on March 14, 2023.

Forty two-year-old Nicholas Richard Harris spent two days in a Grande Prairie courtroom, where he plead guilty to a charge of manslaughter.

On April 3, 2023, the judge handed down a sentence of 12 years in penitentiary to Harris on a manslaughter charge, with seven years credit for time already served as well as a lifetime firearms prohibition.

Harris was convicted of first-degree murder of John William Rock on June 19, 2019 and was handed a life sentence with no chance of parole for 25 years.

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The fatal shooting took place in the early morning hours of October 1, 2014, outside of the Canadian Brewhouse over a dispute over drug money Harris owed to Rock.

Harris shot Rock twice, once in the leg and once in the chest, after he was attacked by Rock and was punched in the head.

Harris apologized to a number of people in court, including Rock’s mother and daughter, and regretfully spoke on his situation of living a “gangster lifestyle” in which “poor choices” ultimately fell onto his family as well as Rock’s. He also admitted his recklessness caused his friend’s death and “lives with it everyday.”

At the 2019 trial, Justice EJ Simpson ruled out self-defense arguments and lesser charges of second-degree murder and manslaughter were not considered.

BACKGROUND: New trial ordered in Grande Prairie murder case