Carolyne Labonté was a radiant woman and her death leaves a “huge void,” several of her loved ones said on Friday at the presentations on the sentence of Éric Levasseur for the murder of his partner, in Charlevoix.
“It’s an immense void, a bottomless abyss,” testified the victim’s mother, Carole Belley, in a letter which was read by the prosecution’s lawyer.
“His smile, his voice, his laughter will resonate forever,” she continues.
“And despite the pain, despite the suffering, one thing will remain intact: the infinite, unfailing love of a mother for her daughter.”
Like her, five other relatives recounted, in statements filed in court, how their lives have turned upside down and are no longer the same, since the 40-year-old woman was found dead in the bathroom of her home. from Notre-Dame-des-Monts, in March 2021, with a gunshot wound to the head.
18 to 20 years required
Found guilty by a jury of second-degree murder in February, Éric Levasseur is now waiting to know before what period, between 10 and 25 years, he will be eligible for parole.
The 49-year-old man still does not admit, to this day, to having committed the alleged acts. His lawyer confirmed to Newspaper that a request to appeal the verdict has been filed and is continuing.
For the Crown prosecutor, Me Jean-Sébastien Lebel, a period of severe ineligibility, between 18 and 20 years, is necessary to send a clear message.
“These people are marked for life,” argued the lawyer, referring to the victim’s entourage, including her parents who were in the room for the occasion.
The aggravating circumstances are numerous, such as the use of a prohibited firearm and the fact that the accused directed the police towards the possibility of suicide, which was ruled out by the jury, he noted. .
“Unreasonable,” says defense
This request from the public prosecutor “is manifestly unreasonable”, for her part described Levasseur’s lawyer, Ms.e Marie-Hélène Giroux, who instead requests a period of 13 years of ineligibility.
Éric Levasseur benefits from the support of his family, she insisted, while arguing that he cannot be blamed for having presented a defense of suicide.
“It was the coroner who decided it was suicide initially,” she recalled.
While the prosecution attempts to hold his criminal record against him, Mr.e Giroux argues that the latter are “very little significant”.
Levasseur had notably signed a commitment not to disturb public order, commonly known as “810”, after alleged events in 2008, underlined Mr.e Lebel.
Judge Thibault will make his decision known on June 6.