Sister of domestic murder victim details destruction of family in wake of killing
Brandon Yellowfly, 27, fatally beat Autumn Crosschild, 25, in June 2022
The death and destruction in the Crosschild family didn't stop at the domestic murder of Autumn, a 25-year-old Indigenous woman killed by Brandon Yellowfly, the man she once wanted to marry.
Crosschild's older sister Nikki-Lee Heavyrunner delivered a powerful victim impact statement in Calgary's Indigenous courtroom Tuesday.
She told Justice Allison Kuntz that in the year after her sister was killed, she also planned funerals for her mother and brother — blaming both of those deaths on the toll of their grief.
"I watched everything fall like dominos around us," said Heavyrunner.
"I'm forever in a nightmare."
Kuntz is presiding over a sentencing hearing for Yellowfly, who pleaded guilty in September to second-degree murder in the 2022 beating death of Autumn.
Yellowfly faces a life sentence for his murder conviction. Prosecutor Aleksandra Simic proposed a 16- to 18-year parole ineligibility period, while defence lawyers James Wyman and Jillian Williamson asked the judge to consider a 13-year term.
The hearing began with a smudging ceremony, a Blackfoot prayer and a jingle dance.
Crosschild tried to flee abuse
In her sentencing submissions, Simic told the judge that Yellowfly showed a "despicable indifference to [Crosschild's] suffering" and called the killing a "vicious and brutal attack on a young and vulnerable Indigenous woman."
Yellowfly admitted to beating Crosschild as she tried to escape his abuse.
His assaults, argued Simic, were aimed at extinguishing Crosschild's desire to leave an abusive relationship
In the week before she died, Crosschild, her mother and her sister each tried to get her help to safely leave Yellowfly.
Crosschild told her sister she wanted to break up with Yellowfly but was afraid he would kill her.
Yellowfly blocks help
On June 10, Crosschild's mother called police asking for a welfare check on her daughter. When police met with Crosschild at a gas station, Yellowfly stood nearby. She told police she was OK and then left with the man who would go on to kill her.
On June 12, Crosschild called for an ambulance, telling EMS she'd consumed alcohol, but paramedics told police she never showed signs of intoxication.
At the hospital, she told medical staff that her boyfriend was hurting her. She was described as anxious and in pain.
When Yellowfly showed up at the hospital, Crosschild locked herself in the bathroom but eventually left with him before she could be examined.
Mislabelled 911 call
The next day, Crosschild kicked Yellowfly out of her home. Yellowfly called and texted 25 times over a 60-minute period.
By the early morning hours of June 14, Yellowfly was back inside the home.
Crosschild hid in her bathroom.
Within minutes, the man who lived below Crosschild called 911 to report that he could hear her being attacked and was concerned she'd be killed.
The 911 operator incorrectly labelled the call a "verbal disturbance."
Crosschild dying on the floor for days
When officers showed up and nobody answered the door, they left, believing they did not have the grounds to force entry into the home.
Crosschild was inside wrapped in a blanket, dying on the floor from her likely treatable injuries. It would be three days before her body was found.
After he was arrested, Yellowfly admitted to investigators that he had hit her head on a door frame and dragged her back inside and she tried to flee.
Yellowfly told police his girlfriend was screaming as he dragged her into the bedroom.
'Destruction of our family began'
After Crosschild's death, "the destruction of our family began," said Heavyrunner.
Their mother "deteriorated quickly, mentally and physically." She died within two months of her daughter.
Next, Heavyrunner noticed her brother struggling and made arrangements for him to move in with her.
Leland Crosschild adored his sister and they called themselves "Batman and Robin."
"The last thing he told me was he missed his Robin," said Heavyrunner. "He thanked me for being like another mother to him."
'He couldn't handle the pain'
The next day, Leland was dead.
"My brother committed suicide over this, he couldn't handle the pain," said Heavyrunner.
"They said overdose but he had already said his goodbyes.… I should have known when the light was gone from his eyes. There I was planning another funeral."
In defence sentencing submissions, Wyman explained to the court that his client has suffered from drug and alcohol addiction but is motivated to remain sober.
In a statement read by his lawyer, Yellowfly said he was "truly sorry" for Crosschild's death.
"I would like to apologize to Autumn's family for the pain I caused," he said. "I would do anything to undo what I've done."
Yellowfly will be sentenced in the new year.
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