Woman who killed Brittney Gargol faces new charges while on release

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Cheyenne Rose Antoine’s statutory release from prison has been revoked after she was charged in connection with a high-speed chase in a stolen vehicle while serving a seven-year manslaughter sentence for killing a Saskatoon woman, Brittney Gargol.

Antoine was granted statutory release — a mandated release for most offenders who have served two-thirds of their sentence — for the second time when she was ordered to live at a residential drug treatment centre in May 2024.

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Soon after, staff found syringes and a pill in her room. She tested positive for amphetamine and the centre withdrew support, according to the Parole Board of Canada’s Jan. 8 decision.

It states that Antoine left the facility and was unlawfully at large until her arrest on June 2, 2024.

The board alleges Antoine was pulling door handles in a parking lot until she got into an occupied vehicle and stole the key. She was seen “laughing in the driver’s seat” after hitting another vehicle and speeding away, the decision says.

“It was noted you were spotted swerving all over the road and driving erratically. You were in the oncoming lane for several hundred metres, causing cars from the same direction to pull off the roadway,” it notes.

Antoine then allegedly hit another, unoccupied vehicle and tried to steal a van before police were able to arrest her.

According to the board, she is charged with two counts of robbery and one count each of evading police, resisting arrest and dangerous driving.

The board suspended her statutory release and, upon review, determined her risk to society can’t be managed.

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“You successfully deceived your case management team and, ultimately, the board, into believing you were motivated to attend further treatment to address your substance abuse and trauma,” the decision reads.

“You then breached virtually all of your special conditions within one day of your release, choosing to immediately acquire and use illicit substances, and absconding from the treatment facility where you were ordered by the board to reside.”

In 2017, Antoine was charged with second-degree murder in Gargol’s death. The 18-year-old’s body was found on a road southwest of Saskatoon on March 25, 2015.

She pleaded guilty in 2018 to the lesser included offence of manslaughter. Her lawyer argued that Antoine lacked the intent for murder because she was high and drunk and doesn’t remember using a belt to strangle her friend during an argument.

Antoine was believed to be wearing the belt in a selfie taken the night Gargol died and posted on Facebook.

The board acknowledged that Antoine was exposed at an early age to drugs and alcohol and continues to use substances to cope with the abuse she suffered in foster care.

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However, the board noted that she has been able to access cultural programming and an “extensive” network of community supports.

During her post-suspension interview, Antoine said she left the treatment facility because it was too strict. She said she overdosed more than once and was hospitalized.

Antoine told the board she stole the vehicles because police refused to come get her when she tried to turn herself in.

“You repeatedly justified your actions by stating you had no other choice, the system set you up for failure, and eventually hung up on your parole officer,” the board noted.

“You tend to displace blame, lack insight into your behaviours, and possess only a superficial understanding of victim harms.”

Since being back in custody, Antoine was involved in a “physical altercation” with another offender on Dec. 26.

She has 15 prior “serious institutional charges,” including assaulting a correctional officer after being denied a shower in 2022.

The board said she also racked up 44 minor charges for having drugs, diverting medication, threatening staff and disobeying authority while in prison.

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Her day parole was revoked twice in 2020 and 2021, after she overdosed and went unlawfully at large.

The board concluded that Antoine has “a dismal history in terms of your complete unwillingness to abide by institutional rules and the conditions of your release.”

The Correctional Service of Canada (CSC) confirmed her sentence concludes on April 18.

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