Barbara Kentner has been failed again, says family after Brayden Bushby gets day parole in trailer-hitch death

WARNING: This story contains disturbing details of violence against Indigenous women.

Melissa Kentner is angry.

The man convicted of manslaughter in the death of her sister, Barbara Kentner, has been released from prison on day parole after serving two years of an eight-year sentence.

"I was crying that day when I found out," Melissa said in an interview with CBC News. "I was having a [really] bad panic attack, like I thought I was going to have a heart attack."

Barbara, of Wabigoon Lake First Nation, died on July 4, 2017, in Thunder Bay, Ont., from medical complications, months after she was struck by a trailer hitch. She was 34 — a mother, a sister, a cousin and an aunt. Her death made national news in a country facing a crisis of violence against Indigenous women, girls and gender-diverse people.

Brayden Bushby, now 24, was sentenced in June 2021 to eight years in prison for Barbara's death. Due to time already served, that was reduced to seven years and 11 months.

This Aug. 10, Bushby was granted day parole, but was denied full parole, according to documents from the Parole Board of Canada.

He has been ordered:

Before his day parole release, Bushby tried to appeal his sentence. Court of Appeal documents obtained by CBC News show his lawyers argued for either his manslaughter conviction to be withdrawn and replaced with a charge of aggravated assault, or for the court to order a retrial on the manslaughter charge.

However, the parole board documents indicate Bushby is no longer pursuing the appeal.

Melissa said nobody told her about Bushby's parole release and she learned about it through the neighbour of one of Bushby's relatives.

If a victim of a crime or their family want updates about an offender, they must contact the Parole Board of Canada or Correctional Services Canada, and register for victim notification, a parole board spokesperson told CBC News in an email.

"Information is not automatically provided to victims; this is to respect the privacy rights of victims who do not wish to be contacted or receive information about the offender who harmed them," the spokesperson said.

Melissa tried to sign up for victim notifications, but said the online application didn't work. She said she called someone for help but said the person on the phone couldn't assist her.