Woman pleads guilty to stabbing St. Boniface senior to death

A woman pleaded guilty Tuesday to manslaughter in the stabbing death of a Winnipeg senior.

Melissa Gabriel, 36,was charged with killing 89-year-old Dorothy Dykens in May 2015. The senior was stabbed to death in a home on Tremblay Street in St. Boniface.

A dog which belonged to Dykens'sfriend was also stabbed in the attack but survived.

• Winnipeg police charge Melissa Gabriel, 35, with manslaughter

Gabriel's lawyer, Matthew Gould, said his client wanted to plead guilty to manslaughter from the beginning.

"From day one, Melissa Gabriel was determined to accept responsibility for manslaughter," said Gould. "She never intended to cause the death."

Gould said theCrown increased charges against his client to second-degree murder which caused a delay in processing her case. Recently, the Crown reduced charges to manslaughter and Gabriel entered her plea.

Gould said serious mental health concerns were raised but Gabriel was determined to be criminally responsible for Dykens' death.

Gabriel had 43 prior convictions, ranging from theft to assaulting a police officer to uttering threats.

Her sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 24.

• Homicide victim Dorothy Dykens, 89, was 'feisty,' generous woman