‘I didn’t mean to hurt her’: Man who stabbed Jamestown woman pleads guilty

Tyler Abbott has been sentenced to eight years in prison after pleading guilty to the 2023 manslaughter of Theresa Agawa, who died nearly two weeks after being stabbed

The man who killed a Jamestown woman with a single knife wound in 2023 has pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter instead of the original charge of second-degree murder.

Tyler Abbott appeared by video from the Algoma Treatment and Remand Centre for the plea and sentencing before Justice Michael Varpio, held this afternoon at the Sault Ste. Marie courthouse.

Abbott was facing a single charge of second-degree murder in relation to the death of Theresa Agawa, 42.

The plea deal was arranged prior to today’s appearance by assistant Crown attorney Robert Skeggs and defence lawyer Andrew Vaughan. A joint submission was also made today, recommending an eight-year custodial sentence in the death — meaning both Crown and defence agreed to the terms of the proposed sentence.

“It is inexcusable to stab another human being, and the punishment captures what he did,” Vaughan said of the proposed sentence for his client.

Asked by Varpio if he had anything to say to the court immediately after the guilty plea was entered into the record, Abbott said he wanted to apologize and offer condolences to Agawa’s family.

“I didn’t mean to hurt her. I do feel bad,” Abbott said.

In considering the joint submission for sentencing, Varpio said he accepted that Abbott did not want Agawa to die and that his guilty plea is a sign of remorse.

Varpio also considered Abbott’s upbringing, including alcohol abuse in a single-parent home and a history of drug abuse, but said none of it justifies pulling a knife on someone.

“At the end of the day, Mr. Abbott, you are responsible for your own actions,” Varpio said.

After reviewing past case law, Varpio noted manslaughter sentences involving stabbings are “all over the place” — ranging from six years on the low end of the scale to 11 years or more.

An eight-year custodial sentence, Varpio said, is the exact right number of years for this case.

Varpio told Abbott he will be in jail for a long time and will have an opportunity to consider what he has done and, hopefully, break the cycle.

“I wish you the best of luck,” Varpio said.

In an agreed statement of facts presented Monday, the court heard that on Aug. 20, 2023, at 1:42 a.m., a Sault Ste. Marie Police Service officer in a cruiser was flagged down by Agawa in the area of Queen Street West and James Street. She had been stabbed in the lower abdomen but was still on her feet when police arrived.

In brief utterances heard by police at the time, Agawa identified Abbott as her attacker.

When paramedics arrived, Agawa was standing and smoking a cigarette. She was taken by ambulance to Sault Area Hospital.

Police searched and canvassed the area. Video evidence of the assault was obtained and a sweater was found near the scene of the stabbing.

The sweater was sent to the Centre of Forensic Sciences, where DNA from both Agawa and Abbott was found on it.

Agawa’s partner made a statement to police at the time, saying Abbott had been residing on the couple’s couch.

The agreed statement of facts said Agawa had provided Abbott with drugs and that she had taken his laptop to settle a debt.

On the evening of the attack, Abbott was seen on video chasing Agawa to Queen Street and stabbing her once in an attack that lasted about four seconds.

When Agawa arrived at Sault Area Hospital, she was in stable condition. A surgeon recommended exploratory surgery, but Agawa is said to have declined, and her wound was loosely stitched by the attending surgeon.

Abbott fled to Toronto the day after the attack.

Eleven hours after she was stabbed, Agawa began to experience complications. On Aug. 24, 2023, she was no longer able to advocate for herself and a member of her family authorized surgery.

That surgery showed the knife had pierced her small bowel, leaking fluid internally. She experienced sepsis, pneumonia and lung failure, among other complications. She died on Sept. 1, 2023 — almost two weeks after she was stabbed.

A pathologist who participated in a post-mortem examination of Agawa said the 1.5-centimetre-by-0.5-centimetre knife wound was potentially survivable, having affected only one organ.

Vaughan said it was unfortunate that Agawa refused the surgery, suggesting that decision could have been influenced by generations of distrust in the medical system among some First Nations people.

On the evening of Aug. 10, 2024, Abbott was arrested by Toronto police in an unrelated incident. Detectives from the Sault Ste. Marie Police Service attended Toronto South Detention Centre in Etobicoke, Ont., and arrested Abbott.

In a victim impact statement read aloud in court Monday, Agawa’s older sister, Stephanie Dinsmore, said the loss has affected the family — especially Agawa’s children, grandchildren, nieces and nephews.

“Now we will never hear her laugh and teasing her nieces and nephews,” Dinsmore said in the statement.

Dinsmore said she now cautions family members to be careful in public in case they encounter someone capable of committing similar acts.

She said Agawa was someone who would give you the shirt off her back and that she will miss her voice and phone calls.

In addition to the eight-year sentence, Abbott was ordered to provide a DNA sample and faces a lifetime ban on possessing any weapon, as defined in the Criminal Code of Canada.

It was noted in court that Abbott was also recently found guilty of aggravated assault and robbery in a Toronto courtroom on Dec. 8, 2025, and received a four-year sentence.