Medicine Hat Court of Queen's Bench

By Charles Lefebvre

Sentence handed down

Eight year sentence for man convicted of manslaughter in 2016 death

Sep 24, 2019 | 1:33 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB — A Medicine Hat man convicted of manslaughter earlier this year in connection with a 2016 death in Crescent Heights learned his sentence on Tuesday.

Aaron Anand-Ford, 24, was sentenced to eight years in prison in the Medicine Hat Court of Queen’s Bench in connection with the death of Dustin Hewer.

He received credit for four years, three months and 27 days of time served, meaning he still has three years, eight months and eight days left to serve on his sentence.

Hewer, 24, was stabbed to death outside of a home in Crescent Heights on November 5, 2016, following a confrontation with Anand-Ford and Jacob Porfoun.

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Anand-Ford and Porfoun were both initially charged with second-degree murder in connection with the incident.

Porfoun later pleaded guilty to a charge of manslaughter in 2017, receiving a six-and-a-half year sentence.

A jury found Anand-Ford guilty of the charge of manslaughter during a two-week trial in February.

Prior to being sentenced, Anand-Ford was given the opportunity to address the court. He turned to members of Hewer’s family in the court room and expressed remorse for his actions.

“I apologize for the pain my actions have caused,” he said. “It was never my intention to take Dustin away from you.”

During the sentencing, victim impact statements from Hewer’s mother, father and step-father were presented to the court, who all wrote about the impact Hewer’s death had on their lives.

Darren Fehr, Dustin’s stepfather, wrote he missed Dustin every day in his statement.

“My days are empty without him here,” Clayton Hewer, Dustin’s father, wrote in his statement.

“His death broke a piece of my heart that will forever be broken,” his mother Maureen wrote.