Trial begins for Thunder Bay man accused in trailer-hitch death of First Nations woman

More than three years after Barbara Kentner's death, hersisters are hoping for justice in a case that hundreds ofFirst Nations chiefs from across the countrysee as a test of Canada's commitment to missing and murdered Indigenous women and girls.

Kentner, a 34-year-old mother and member of Wabigoon Lake Ojibway Nation, diednearly six months after being struck by a trailer hitch thrown at her from a passing car.

The chargeagainst Brayden Bushby, 21, wasreducedfrom second-degree murder to manslaughter and aggravated assault earlier this year, sparking outrage from First Nations leaders.There is no mandatory minimum sentencefor manslaughter in Canada unless it involves a firearm. If convicted,Bushby could face a sentenceranging fromprobation to life in prison.

"Barb was Barb. It's hard to explain your sister, you know?" Melissa Kentner said."You fight. You argue. You love each other. She was always a loving, caring person. She always thought about others."

Melissawas with Barbarathat night in January 2017 and told CBC News at the time thata passenger in a car yelled, 'Oh, I got one,' after throwing the trailer hitch at them. Barbara was hospitalized and required surgery after the blow to her stomach. Melissasaid her sister never recovered from her injuries. She died on July 4, 2017.

"It's not being prosecuted as a hate crimebut I figure it was," Melissasaid in an interview last week.

She saidshe needs to be careful about how much she says before her testimony, scheduled for the first day of the trial.

"It's been stressful. There are lots of words I want to say, but I can't say them," she said. "Sometimes, I just want to explode, but I can't. I don't want to get in trouble."

Another sister,who is not expected to testifyand was not present when the incidentoccurred,spoke more freely. Connie Kentnersaid whoever threw the trailer hitch is guilty of more than manslaughter.

"I do believe it was a hate crime, and it was premeditated because who decides just all of a sudden to throw a trailer hitch at people walking down the street," Conniesaid. "That's the fact of it. It did happen. There's no way around it. I don't understand why it would be something different.

"In my opinion, it is murder because she did end up dying over it, and that was the cause. Sure, she probably had health issues before that, but that's not the initial cause of her death. It was the trailer hitch."

CBC News asked Bushby's defence lawyer, George Joseph, for comment on the case in advance of the trial. No comment was offered before publication time.

Bushby was first charged with aggravated assault in February 2017. The charges were upgraded to second-degree murder after Barbara diedand then reduced in September.

"While infuriating and entirely unjust, this is what both Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples in Canada have come to expect from the justice system when it comes to violence against Indigenous peoples, in particular, Indigenous women, girls and two-spirit people," chiefs from Ontario, British Columbia, Quebec and Labrador said in a joint statement on Sept.25.

The date for the trial has also been delayed several times and was finally set to begin in Octoberwhen a fire resulted in the closure of the Thunder Bay courthouse. The case is now being heard in the old courthouse, which had been converted into a hotel.

Exhausting for the family

The lengthy waithasput a strain on the family, including Barbara's 19-year-old daughter, Serena, who is undergoing treatment for cancer.

Melissasaid,"I want closure, so I'm able to get on with my life and get the help that I need."

She said she put off mental health counselling because the counsellor told her that her notes could be subpoenaed for the trial.

The case is "indicative of how brutally this delay of justice, this racism injustice, all of these things just exhaust people, and it makes it really hard to remain activelyengaged and rightfully outraged," said Riley Yesno, an Indigenous rights activist and research fellow at Ryerson University's Yellowhead Institute. "And it must be so exhausting for the family."

'Could have been anybody'

For Yesno, the case also highlights the importance of therecommendations that the government has yet to act on from the National Inquiry into Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and Girls, especially when it comes to more serious consequences for perpetrators of violence.

"We still can't assume that we will get justice, that these systems that we're told are here to protect us, actually will," she said.

The trial could mark a turning point in Thunder Bay's history, Yesno said, an opportunity to change "all these narratives of Thunder Bay being this hostile and horrible place for Indigenous people to live" by showing support and care for the Kentner family.

Barbara's sisters said they hope the whole city learns from itthat the consequences of hate are deadly.

"It could have been anybody, and it still can be anybody [whowas killed]. It'sjust the way this community proceeded. It's all about hate," Conniesaid.

The trial, by judge alone,begins Monday and is expected to take four days. Bushby has pleaded not guilty.