A man who acted as a lookout while his co-accused fatally shot Matthew Brabant through a Saskatoon motel room door has been sentenced to seven-and-a-half years in prison. Tyler Pambrun, 30, pleaded guilty to manslaughter with a firearm in the death of the 20-year-old. His co-accused, Lawrence Opikokew, was previously sentenced to 13 years. Brabant was killed at the Riviera Motor Inn on Avenue B North on May 17, 2025. The shooting Motel surveillance video showed Pambrun, known as Sleezy, and Opikokew arrive at the motel around 4:13 a.m. Opikokew leaned out the rear passenger window, pointing a sawed-off .303 rifle toward Room 101. The two men then approached the room. As Brabant and the other occupants fled down the hallway, Opikokew pointed the rifle in their direction. About an hour later, Opikokew and Pambrun returned. Pambrun remained in the parking lot acting as a lookout while Opikokew approached Room 101 and fired a single shot through the closed suite door, court heard. “The round strikes Mr. Brabant, who runs down the hallway of the hotel clutching at his chest, covered in blood before collapsing,” the agreed statement of facts says. During a police interview, Opikokew admitted firing the gun but said he wasn’t aiming at anyone in particular. “He just wanted to shake them up, as one of the people in the motel room had threatened him with bear mace,” the agreed statement of facts says. Sentence doesn’t go far enough: Victim’s sister Anna Brabant-Urquiza remembers her little brother’s eyes light up when he smiled. “He was the rock of our family,” Brabant-Urquiza said. She said the prison sentences don’t go far enough, especially after days are deducted for time served. After receiving enhanced credit for time served in remand, Pambrun has about five years and nine months left to serve. “I feel let down and I think our city is not safe, and if you do something wrong, there’s no consequence,” she told reporters outside the courthouse, holding back tears. From first-degree murder, to manslaughter Pambrun was originally charged with first-degree murder. Although he didn’t pull the trigger, Pambrun and Opikokew ended up with the same charge. Senior Crown Prosecutor David Piche said manslaughter covers a broad spectrum. “There was a real issue over whether he knew the firearm was loaded and obviously whether it was going to be used. We had to evaluate his culpability, or fault, considering those issues,” Piche told reporters outside Saskatoon Provincial Court. Before receiving his sentence, under a joint submission from the Crown and defence, the judge asked if Pambrun wanted to say anything from the prisoner’s box. “I was unaware of the outcome and that Matthew was going to lose his life. I had no intentions to hurt anybody. My heart goes out to the family. I’m sorry, I really am, and I just hope that you can forgive me one day,” Pambrun said. Brabant’s sister said she appreciated hearing the apology but said it doesn’t change what happened.
