Man who shot Hobbema toddler 'blacked-out drunk'

A 20-year-old man who pleaded guilty to shooting a toddler on a reserve near Hobbema, Alta., on April 13, 2008, told a court he was drunk and high at the time, and apologized for his actions.

"I've got a kid myself and wouldn't like it if he was hurt," Christopher Crane, 20, said during his sentencing hearing in provincial court in Wetaskiwin on Monday. "I just want to change my life now."

Asia Saddleback, who was 23 months old at the time, was hit by a stray bullet during a drive-by shooting. The bullet went through the wall of her grandfather's house as the family was having dinner.

Saddleback survived, but now has a bullet lodged in her spine because it was too close to vital organs for doctors to safely remove it.

"It's got a 90 per cent chance that she could die from just trying to take it out," said Asia's mother Candace Saddleback outside the courthouse.

"I don't really want to go back to that day or that week, it was the worst week of my life."

Crane pleaded guilty to aggravated assault, robbery, use of a firearm during an indictable offence, and possession of a firearm during an indictable offence.

On Monday, Crane told court he was drunk and high almost every day for a month after receiving his $40,000 royalty cheque from the Samson Cree First Nation when he turned 18.

"I was on pills and I was drinking and smoking weed all day," Crane said. "I was blacked-out drunk. I can hardly remember."

According to an agreed statement of facts, Crane shot at the home because he believed the owners were members of a rival gang.

A 17-year-old who loaded the gun and was with Crane at the time of the shooting has already been sentenced.

Crane will be sentenced March 29.