Canadian Serial Criminal and Murderer get lighter sentence because he is black.

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A Canadian serial criminal who murdered his girlfriend by stabbing her 15 times in broad daylight was handed a lighter sentence because of his race.

Everton Downey, 35, killed his girlfriend, Melissa Blimkie, 25, in a savage attack in December 2021 at the Metrotown shopping mall in Burnaby, British Columbia.

Downey was convicted of second–degree murder and sentenced to life in prison last month.

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Prosecutors asked the court to make him ineligible for parole for 15 years, but British Columbia Supreme Court Associate Chief Justice Heather Holmes instead set the period at 12 years.

The judge made the decision after reviewing Downey's Impact of Race and Culture Assessment (IRCA), a report used in Canada primarily for black offenders that explains how poverty and marginalization may have shaped their life.

The report noted that Downey did not experience overt racism while growing up in Toronto, according to the National Post.

However, it claimed he later experienced disconnection, isolation and discrimination 'he had not previously encountered' after moving to British Columbia in 2016.

'Mr. Downey has a substantial criminal record involving violence and firearms,' Holmes said. 'I recognize, however, that the aggravating effect of his criminal record is offset in part by the mitigating circumstances of his background.'

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His report was written by University of Calgary social work associate professor Patrina Duhaney.

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'He grew up in Toronto in predominantly black and racially diverse neighborhoods and attended racially diverse schools,' Holmes' decision said.

Downey 'felt that he did not experience overt racism' and that 'his experience living in communities which normalized racial diversity shaped his early sense of identity and belonging.'

The convicted killer said that changed when he left his home city for British Columbia.

'He found a much smaller black population, and the cultural norms among black communities felt unfamiliar to him,' the judge wrote in her decision.

She added that Downey experienced racial discrimination 'in the community and in the institutional setting.'

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Holmes acknowledged that Downey had a 'significant criminal record that includes serious offenses of violence' before killing Blimkie.

Downey had also previously served time in prison, though details of those earlier crimes were not specified.

However, the judge said his IRCA made 'clear that broader systemic, structural, and community factors relating to Mr. Downey's experience as a black person have played a part in his life experience.'

That included 'various types of trauma, negative peer influences, and mental health challenges,' the judge said.

Downey grew up experiencing domestic violence at home, shootings in his neighborhood and poverty.

His father was also described as being absent during his upbringing, all factors which contributed to Downey's apparent 'lasting sense of danger and mistrust.'

Downey's report demonstrated 'early exposure to violence, chronic instability, poverty, systemic anti–black racism and untreated mental health symptoms.'

The judge specifically pointed to Downey's 'hypervigilance, that may be trauma related.'

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