Judge Reduces Sentence for Defendant in Girlfriend’s Murder After Considering Racial Factors

A person enters The Law Courts building, which is home to B.C. Supreme Court and the Court of Appeal, in Vancouver, on Jan. 12, 2026. The Canadian Press/Ethan Cairns

A man found guilty of stabbing his girlfriend to death in a British Columbia parking garage will be eligible for parole after 12 years because the judge considered his race a mitigating factor, court documents indicate.

Everton Javaun Downey, 35, was convicted of second-degree murder last August for stabbing 25-year-old Melissa Blimkie 15 times in a stairwell at the Metrotown Shopping Centre in Burnaby, B.C., on Dec. 19, 2021.