It was a bittersweet day for family and friends of Mackaylah Gerard-Roussin, as her accused killer, 24-year-old Josh Benoit, was found guilty of first-degree murder.
“Mackaylah was a good woman. She didn’t deserve — nobody deserves to lose their life,” said her father, Kirby Gerard, outside court after the verdict was handed down.
In the judge-alone trial, court heard 20-year old Gerard-Roussin was last seen on Aug. 25, 2022. Justice Candace Grammond concluded she left her home with Benoit, who then murdered her and buried her body on a remote ATV trail near Woodridge, Manitoba.
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The judge agreed with the Crown that Benoit had planned the killing in advance, which included digging the grave beforehand. Grammond said, “In my view, none of these steps were taking hastily, rashly, or impulsively”.
A round of applause broke out in the packed courtroom when the verdict was announced.
The verdict was delivered on Red Dress Day, commemorating missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls. Following the verdict, hundreds joined the family on a march from court to the Oodena Circle at The Forks.
“We wanted to gather to show them that they aren’t alone,” said Melissa Robinson, director of the Missing and Murdered First Nations Peoples Unit at the Assembly of Manitoba Chiefs. “To show them that we feel their pain, but we stand with them, we support them, and we uplift them.”
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