Court cases against the accused in two separate killings of Ponoka residents are moving forward.
Ryan Jake Applegarth
Ryan Jake Applegarth has been charged with the second degree murder of Chantelle Firingstoney and failure to comply with a release order.
The preliminary hearing in that case is set for Nov. 2 and 3, 2021, at Ponoka Provincial Court.
Firingstoney, 26, and mother of four, was found deceased in a residential complex in town on Nov. 5, 2020.
Applegarth has also been charged with the second degree murder of Jamison Samuel Louis. Louis, 34, was killed in Wetaskiwin on Jan. 3, 2020.
Applegarth was out on bail at the time of Firingstoney’s death. He had been released after a bail hearing on Sept. 3, 2020.
The charge in the killing of Louis was lessened to second degree murder, and Applegarth was committed to stand trial last spring.
The trial for the killing of Louis is scheduled for Feb. 14 to 18, 2022, at Wetaskiwin Court of Queen’s Bench.
READ MORE: Applegarth’s murder charges proceed
Tyler John Campbell
The sentencing of Tyler John Campbell, who pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm in the slaying of Jefferey Kraft of Ponoka, is to commence on Nov. 16, 2021 at Red Deer Provincial Court.
Kraft, 20, was killed on Dec. 15, 2019, in the rural-Lacombe area.
According to the Agreed Statement of facts read in court, Campbell was concealed in the trunk of a vehicle in possession of a loaded 12-gauge shotgun. When he later got out of the trunk, he confronted Kraft, who was shot in the chest and died of the injury shortly after in hospital.
READ MORE: Family of Jeffery Kraft feels ‘robbed’ after one accused discharged
The Crown prosecutor and Campbell’s defence lawyer made a joint submission for a seven-year sentence for Campbell back in February, 2021.
The submission was rejected twice by Judge Jim Hunter.
Campbell’s application to withdraw his guilty plea was turned down by a different judge at the end of September, 2021.
READ MORE: Discussions about justice continue as Ponoka murder victims’ court cases proceed