(rdnewsNOW file photo)

By Sheldon Spackman

Tyler John Campbell

Man sentenced to 11 years, four months in fatal Lacombe shooting

Jan 20, 2022 | 5:05 PM

A man charged in a fatal Lacombe shooting two years ago has been sentenced to 11 years and four months in jail.

However, Tyler John Campbell, 29, was also given 642 days credit for time already spent behind bars, leaving him with just over nine and a half years left to serve.

Campbell was sentenced to 11 years for his conviction of manslaughter with the use of a firearm in the Dec. 15, 2019 incident, along with an additional four months to be served consecutively for guilty pleas on counts of possession of stolen property and breach of recognizance. Five other counts against Campbell were withdrawn in Red Deer provincial court Thursday.

Judge Jim Hunter also issued a lifetime firearms, ammunition, and explosives ban for Campbell, in addition to submitting a DNA order.

Hunter’s sentence came after he rejected for the third time, a joint submission of seven years from both the Crown and defence.

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Campbell was convicted in the death of 20-year-old Jeffery Kraft, of Ponoka.

Kraft passed away on Dec. 15, 2019 following injuries sustained from a gunshot wound, in what was described in court as an accidental shooting over an alleged debt.

Campbell appeared in Red Deer provincial court from the Edmonton Remand Centre through CCTV on Thursday.

Prior to sentencing, Judge Hunter highlighted that Campbell was in possession of a firearm with the intent of intimidating or threatening harm to Kraft after luring him to a rural location in Lacombe.

He further noted that Kraft, sitting in the front seat of a vehicle at the time, had no chance of survival, as Campbell was at close range when the gun went off. Kraft suffered a single gunshot wound to his chest, which later proved fatal.

Judge Hunter described Campbell’s actions following the shooting as callous and reprehensible, after Campbell and his accomplice left Kraft mortally wounded in the parking lot of the Lacombe Hospital.

Hunter concluded by describing Kraft’s shooting as a tragic and utterly senseless loss of a young life, saying, “His loss has left a significant void in the lives of so many that will never be filled.”