Man gets 13 years in toddler shooting

An Alberta gang member was sentenced to 13 years in prison Monday in the shooting of a toddler on a reserve in Hobbema, Alta., in April 2008.

Asia Saddleback was just23 months old when she was hit by a stray bullet during a drive-by shooting.She has recovered from the attack but will have a bullet lodged in her spine for the rest of her life, because doctors determined it would be too risky to remove it.

Christopher Crane, 20,was sentencedto five years in prison for the shooting and six years for robbery, in addition to two years for the other offences. Provincial court Judge Thomas Schollie gave him four years' credit for two yearsspent in custody.

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

Asiawas hit by thebulleton the Samson Cree First Nation while she was having dinner at her grandfather's house. The bullet tore through the wall of the house, hitting her in the liver and spine.

According to an agreed statement of facts, Crane, who was a member of a gang at the time,shot at the house because he believed the owners were members of a rival gang.

Asia and her mother, Candace Saddleback, were in the Wetaskiwin courtroom for Crane's sentencing Monday.

"It's do-able. I'm happy with it," Candace Saddleback said of the sentence.

When asked by a reporter whether the sentencing meant the process was coming to an end for the family, Saddleback said they would never get over what happened.

"This is something that we're going to live with, forever, and if nine years is what it takes, then fine," she said.

Rehabilitation 'not a sure thing'

During his sentencing hearing in January, Crane said he wanted to turn his life around. But Crown prosecutor Rod Clark presented new evidence to the judge Monday he said suggested otherwise.

The materials include 43 pages of photos and 34 pages of writings that were taken from Crane's cell at the Edmonton Remand Centre, which include what Clarkdescribed as words about violence, drugs and gangs. He said theyshowed Crane has "an abiding interest in drug trafficking and gang lifestyle."

"I thought they were relevant,"Clark told reporters afterward. "I thought they had something to say about where this man's rehabilitative prospects lie it says to me that rehabilitation is not a sure thing."

Crane's lawyer, Harold Brubaker,said his client was a rapper and many of the writings were simply lyrics to rap songs.

"It's sad to say, but I got to get paid the only way I know how: selling crack to the town, " Crane writes in one missive."As crazy as it sounds, it's got to be done.

"Almost everybody never leaves the house without a sawed-off shotgun. You can feel the sadness and heartbroken misery and the grief.My enemies can't make it on my streets."

During a sentencing hearing in January, Crane told the court he was drunk and high almost every day for a month after he received a $40,000 royalty cheque from the Samson Cree First Nation when he turned 18.

Another youth, who was 16 at the time, was found guilty of aggravated assault and several weapons offences for his role in the shooting.