Sister shares grief as man sentenced to 10 years in death of woman in B.C.

A man has been sentenced to 10 years in prison for his role in the death of a 49-year-old woman in her home last year in New Westminster, B.C.

Carlo Tobias, who is 22, was originally charged with first-degree murder but pleaded guilty to one count each of manslaughter and being an accessory after the fact in the death of Ma Cecilia Loreto.

The defence and Crown counsel submitted a joint recommendation of a 10-year sentence, minus 18 months for time served, which Judge Peter La Prairie of the B.C. provincial court agreed to.

An agreed statement of facts read in court by Crown counsel Jay Fogel said Loreto was killed on March 17, 2021, before her burned body was found in Burnaby's Greentree Village Park the next day.

A youth, who cannot be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has been charged with first-degree murder.

The agreed statement of facts says on the day Loreto was killed, Tobias punched her in the face at her home, rendering her unconscious, but he did not take part in stabbing Loreto afterwards.