The manslaughter case of Kiera Bourque, a 21-year-old woman charged after the overdose death of 17-year-old Devon Blackmore, made an appearance in court Wednesday morning.
Bourque, who was 20 at the time of the incident, was absent in court Wednesday morning. Paul Varga has been retained as defence lawyer, who was in court Wednesday morning to represent Bourque on a largely procedural appearance.
Related: Arrest made in 1 of 4 homicides in Penticton area last year
Bourque has not yet entered a plea, with Varga telling the court he has not yet received full disclosure from prosecution. Kurt Froelich, appearing on behalf of Crown lawyer Andrew Vandersluys, said he had some paperwork ready to hand over to the defence, along with some digital files on a USB.
The matter was put over to July 11 to set out particulars in the case.
Related: A Penticton mother’s struggle with the overdose death of her son
According to court documents, obtained by the Western News in March, Bourque allegedly injected Blackmore, who was feeling ill at the time, with illicitly obtained morphine on April 2, 2017. The boy, who had reportedly been injected with the same substance the night before, tried to go to the washroom with the help of Bourque, but fell into a seizure, according to the documents.
Emergency crews were called, but Blackmore was shortly thereafter declared dead.
Related: Penticton womanarrested in connection with homicide, released with no charges
The incident is considered one of four homicides in the Penticton area last year, and was kept under wraps until the investigation became publicly known in December, with few details being released in February this year.
The details from the court documents, called an information to obtain and used to apply for a search warrant, have not been proven in court.
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Dustin Godfrey | Reporter
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