Woman sentenced to six years for alcohol- and drug-fuelled Hamilton parking lot stabbing

It was 10:14 p.m. on Sept. 27, 2020, when 60-year-old Zoran Benasich pulled his Hummer into the parking lot of the Big Bee convenience store on the corner of Cannon and Wentworth streets.

The only other person in the SUV sat in the passenger seat: Melena Pheasant, a then-36-year-old Indigenous woman who had known Benasich for years. They were acquaintances who met through sex work and sometimes friends with benefits," court heard. When she owed him money, she repaid him with sexual favours. Pheasant - who was homeless - would sometimes stay with him on his boat docked in Hamilton.

What happened next in that parking lot was largely captured on surveillance video. But why remains a mystery.

That's because Benasich is dead and Pheasant, who was significantly impaired by both alcohol and crack cocaine, cannot remember stabbing the 60-year-old twice in the chest and once in the arm. Her small folding knife with a metal handle severed his aorta, causing death within minutes, court heard.

There was no video inside the SUV, but the parking-lot surveillance showed Pheasant pushing Benasich's lifeless body out the driver's side door. She climbed out and stood over him, stomping first his torso and then head, with no response. After placing a T-shirt on his head and inexplicably breaking a pair of binoculars, she tried to drive away but could not, court heard. Bystanders approached and she asked them for help. When they refused, she became angry.

I just killed a guy and need to get out of here before the cops come," she said at one point.

When police arrived, she ran, before collapsing and screaming. I killed Zohan!" she was heard screaming. Later Yo, kill these police," to seemingly no one.

Pheasant was initially charged by police with second-degree murder. On Aug. 16, she pleaded guilty to manslaughter. And on Friday, she was sentenced to six years. After credit for time served in pretrial custody, she has another two years, eight months and 21 days to serve.

This is a senseless killing," said Superior Court Justice Paul Sweeny. Alcohol and drug use played a pivotal role in this offence."

He noted that no sentence can undo the pain and anguish felt by Benasich's mother and friends.

The Crown had asked for eight years, less credit for time served. The defence asked for four to five years, less credit, plus three years probation.

Assistant Crown attorney Warren Milko said there was no known motive or logic to what happened, it was simply a very quick and senseless" act of violence. But he also noted the dichotomy between the violent offence and the circumstances of Pheasant's life as outlined in a pre-sentence report and a Gladue report, which details the unique circumstances of Indigenous offenders.

In my position, the Gladue report is as catastrophic as can be imagined," Milko said, later calling it hard to read." The trauma and devastation that Pheasant, her parents and grandparents have endured is exactly the high-water mark" alluded to by the Supreme Court for Gladue principles.

Pheasant's lawyer Andrew Confente told the court Pheasant's grandparents and parents were survivors of residential schools and day schools. The family has faced sexual abuse, violence, substance use, discrimination and a loss of culture and language. She also lost family in a collision and to suicide.

Her family's last name was changed by a federal agent who didn't know how to pronounce their name, Confente said. Their name meant bird, so the agent came up with the name Pheasant.

Pheasant, who is now 38, is Ojibwe. There were many things revealed in the Gladue report about her family's history that she didn't know. The Gladue report was an eye-opening experience for Melena," Confente said.

Pheasant has a criminal record that includes past convictions for assaults, breaching court orders, property, driving and drug offences. Court heard her criminal offences have been driven by substance use. She has also been diagnosed with anxiety and depression.

Pheasant has been in custody since her arrest, including spending the equivalent of 60 and a half days in lockdown. In jail she has completed her high school diploma and participated in Indigenous programming.

In court Friday, Pheasant, speaking softly, apologized to Benasich's family. I've learned a lot while I was in custody," she said. I have been sober for two years."

Pheasant said she knows she needs help and counselling and wants to continue to stay clean.

After sentencing her, Sweeny spoke directly to Pheasant acknowledging the really positive steps" she's taken toward rehabilitation. I know it's not easy."

He encouraged her to continue on that path and the path toward reconnecting with her Indigenous roots.

Nicole O'Reilly is a crime and justice reporter at The Spectator. noreilly@thespec.com