The apartment complex where Brett Charles was found stabbed to death earlier this year. (Nigel Maxwell/paNOW)

By Susan McNeil

Sentencing

Guilty plea to manslaughter in death of Brett Charles

Nov 29, 2025 | 7:00 AM

Both Alisha Sky Ross and Brett Charles had been drinking and consuming drugs in the hours before a dispute turned bad and Ross stabbed Charles to death.

Ross admitted to both killing Charles, who was her nephew albeit two years older than her, and to lying to police about what happened.

Ross, Charles and several other people were drinking and consuming drugs in an apartment in Prince Albert on March 24 of this year.

Ross’ roommate got out of bed and told the partiers to leave, which several did, but Charles remained and was then heard yelling, throwing punches and knocking holes in the walls.

Ross told her nephew to leave, telling him to “get the f…. out or I’m going to stab you”, according to the roommate’s statement to police.

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He then called 911 but, in the interim, Ross stabbed Charles three times with a knife from the kitchen. One stab pierced his heart, killing him.

The roommate called 911 again to report the assault and the fact that Ross claimed her nephew had been holding the knife when he fell and it wounded him.

When paramedics and police arrived, Charles was lying face up on the floor.

“She claimed he tripped on his shoes and fell on the knife he was holding,” read the crown prosecutor, as part of submissions before sentencing in Prince Albert Provincial Court.

Ross was originally charged with second degree murder but pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Charles’ family members were in court for the sentencing hearing, as were members of Ross’ family, including her parents and young son.

Multiple members of Charles’ family submitted victim impact statements, detailing the pain of their loss.

“Our family has tried to grieve together but the pain is different for each of us,” said one sister. “I feel guilty for moving forward, finding moments of happiness.”

She said his death shattered her family.

His lifelong friend said that Charles was a nurturing best friend who took care of his family before he cared for himself.

Submissions from the crown and defense as far as sentencing length, are far apart. The crown suggested eight years in custody followed by a period of probation while the defense suggested three years was more fit.

In describing Ross, her lawyer pointed out that her parents are strong Christians who don’t drink at all and suggested that a disciplinarian approach to parenting had an impact on his client.

He also said she had been sexually assaulted at a young age and this caused her to lash out and have issues managing her anger.

She began using drugs at age 13 and has serious mental health concerns including several suicide attempts.

Ross was on conditions at the time of the stabbing from a previous incident that involved a shooting at the Northside Bar and she is accused of biting an officer after being arrested for that, although those charges are still not resolved in court.

A previous incident from 2021 was dealt with by way of conditional discharge, so she has no criminal record, her lawyer pointed out.

Ross submitted a handwritten letter of apology to the court for her actions and also spoke aloud when asked by Judge Healey if she wanted to say anything.

“I want to say I’m sorry. I’m sorry for the pain I caused,” she said. She promised to change.

Healey did not hand down a sentence, and another date will be set for that, giving him time to look over the case law and the submissions of both Crown and defense.

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susan.mcneil@pattisonmedia.com