A man released from jail after serving two years for the manslaughter of a Richmond woman is back in court for breaching probation.
Solaris Onatta Running Dey was arrested in November after allegedly failing to follow the conditions for his three-year probation following his two-year jail sentence.
According to court records, Dey had allegedly failed to adhere to the condition to report as directed between Oct. 31 and Nov. 2. He was also charged for allegedly failing to inform his probation officer of his address and avoid changing it without first telling his probation officer.
Dey was found guilty in 2020 for the death of his 19-year-old girlfriend after a trial.
His girlfriend, Aspen Pallot, died on the evening of Oct. 3, 2018 and her body was found in Dey’s bedroom in his house on Westminster Highway and Minoru Boulevard later that night.
Dey was 22 at the time of the offence.
BC Supreme Court justice Michael Tammen found the “only rational conclusion” after considering all the evidence was that Dey caused Pallot’s death by manual strangulation.
However, Tammen was not satisfied that prosecution proved Dey had the “necessary subjective foresight” that his actions would cause Pallot’s death, and instead found Dey guilty of the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Sentence provides public protection and ensures monitoring of Dey: Judge
In June 25, 2021, Tammen sentenced Dey to two years in federal jail followed by three years’ probation.
“Here, as I have noted, the actions of the accused were inherently dangerous and awareness of the risk of serious harm can be inferred from them,” he wrote.
“However, the moral blameworthiness of the accused is tempered somewhat by his underlying mental illness.”
The court heard Dey had struggled with mental illness since he was 20 and had been “involuntarily hospitalized on several occasions.”
Tammen added it was unknown whether Dey experienced any symptoms of psychosis at the time, but it was clear he suffered from a mental illness with the potential to “seriously impair his cognitive functioning.”
Prior to being sentenced, Dey had spent 994 days in pretrial detention.
Tammen ultimately decided a sentence that would restrict Dey’s liberty for five years would best serve the purposes of public protection and rehabilitation for Dey.
He explained the terms of probation, which required “very close supervision and monitoring” of Dey by probation services were not intended to be punitive.
Instead, they would “provide structure for the rehabilitative efforts of Mr. Dey and to permit early recognition of any missteps by him on his path to rehabilitation.”
Dey’s probation conditions include reporting to his probation officer within 48 hours after his prison sentence, reporting once a week in person and by telephone to his probation officer, not possessing or consuming controlled substances and abiding by a curfew.
He is also required attend scheduled appointments with his doctor, psychiatrist and counsellor, take all his medications and get treatment at the direction of his probation officer.
Dey is also forbidden from leaving B.C. without prior permission from the court, coming into contact with Pallot’s family and possessing any knife except for preparing or eating food or for his employment.
Dey will return to Richmond Provincial Court by video on Dec. 20 for a bail hearing.
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