ONION LAKE — An Onion Lake Cree Nation man convicted in the death of his brother-in-law has had his day parole revoked, according to a Nov. 20 Parole Board of Canada decision.
Dakota Dean Whitstone, now 26, was granted day parole for six months in April. His day parole was suspended following an incident in June when police found him shoeless, shirtless, and intoxicated, lying in the middle of a highway causing a traffic disruption, according to Parole Board documents.
During a post-suspension interview, Whitstone admitted to his parole supervisor that he had gone out with an old friend and some “girls came by” and he hung out with them. He said while riding in a car he got into a fight with his friend and he either got kicked out of the car, or jumped out on his own. He then started jumping in front of vehicles on the highway.
Police are planning to charge Whitstone with a sexual offence alleged to have occurred on May 30, according to parole documents. As of Nov. 18, Whitstone has an outstanding warrant on charges of sexual assault, overcoming resistance, forcible confinement and four counts of being unlawfully at large.
Since being back at the penitentiary, Whitstone was found to have a jail-made syringe and jail-made alcohol, as well as methamphetamine, documents reveal.
He was convicted of killing his brother-in-law Tyson Blair Crosschild, 28, from the Blood Tribe on Onion Lake Cree Nation in August 2018.
Whitstone was initially charged with second-degree murder but in September 2020 he pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter. In November 2020, he was sentenced to 7.5 years in prison. He was given 25.5 months credit for time served while on remand awaiting trial.
Parole documents reveal that Whitstone was a member of a street gang but left the gang when he went to prison.
The documents also indicate he has suffered intergenerational trauma with members of his family having attended residential school. His mother died from a drug overdose when he was nine years old. He moved in with his grandmother and she died within a year so he returned to his own First Nation community to be closer to his siblings where he was the victim of physical, verbal, emotional and sexual abuse on his First Nation.
