Norway House man pleads guilty in fatal shooting of pregnant woman

A Norway House man has pleaded guilty in the death of a pregnant woman, after prosecutors say he showed reckless disregard for the 23-year-old’s life while intoxicated.

During a provincial court hearing in Norway House Cree Nation Thursday, Derek Forbister, 36, admitted to criminal negligence causing death and being in possession of a firearm while prohibited from having one.

Forbister fatally shot Raven Crate at a home in the First Nation on the morning of Nov. 12, 2024.

Court heard they and another person were drinking at the home of Crate’s cousin in the northern Manitoba community.

Crown attorney Omar Siddiqui, reading from an agreed statement of facts, told court Forbister had consumed a significant amount of alcohol and had also taken a sedative when he produced a pump-action shotgun and a box of shells around 4:30 a.m.

Forbister “started pointing the firearm at himself and pulling the trigger when he believed it was unloaded, making comments about killing himself,” the prosecutor said.

He continued to load and unload the firearm while sitting near the other two people, Siddiqui said. Around 6:30 a.m., while the other person was out of the room to get water, Forbister shot Crate in the head.

We all believe she would have been an amazing mother — something we, the family, won’t get the privilege to see.- Sandra Clarke

Crate’s life was taken in a “violent and senseless, subhuman manner,” family member Sandra Clarke said in an impact statement she read during a press conference Thursday afternoon.

Crate was Clarke’s grand-niece, but Clarke would be considered her grandmother in her culture, she said.

“Our world has changed forever. Raven and her baby boy are missing from our family,” Clarke said.

“We all believe she would have been an amazing mother — something we, the family, won’t get the privilege to see.”

The family said she was four and a half months pregnant with a child they’ve named Nathaniel Angel Justice Crate.

Court heard there were children present at the home when the shooting happened. Clarke said Crate was in the home to babysit her cousin’s children.

Olive Dixon, Crate’s aunt, said the 23-year-old thought she was in a “safe place.”

“Baby Nathaniel would have been seven months old this month,” she said.

“[He] never got to take his first breath here on Earth. He never got to feel the love we were all anticipating and eager to share with Raven.”

Didn’t mean to kill Crate: Forbister

“To the person who took Raven’s life, we pray that you realize what you took from us,” Dixon had said in her impact statement.

“You decided to go there those early hours in the morning with a gun and you are the one who pulled the trigger. You did that.… It was all you.”

Siddiqui said during the hearing there was no evidence of intent to kill.

Forbister had initially been charged with manslaughter with a firearm, but the prosecutor said the negligence charge was equivalent, as both would carry a minimum four-year mandatory sentence.

Forbister apologized to the family, saying he didn’t mean to kill Crate.

The prosecution and Forbister’s lawyer have jointly recommended a six-year sentence for the death, and an additional six months for the gun charge.

Judge Keith Eyrikson stayed his decision Thursday, saying he owed it to the community to think deeply about the matter.

The case will be back in court on Nov. 20.