Man gets 5-year sentence for fatal 2018 stabbing in Saskatoon

Duran Laplante was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison for killing Elijah Kozak in a downtown Saskatoon apartment.

Laplante was originally charged with second-degree murder in the Aug. 10, 2018, stabbing death of Kozak, 24, but pleaded guilty to the lesser offence of manslaughter.

Court heard Kozak had been at the apartment on the 200 block of Fifth Avenue N. on the night of Aug. 10,when an altercation broke out between him and Laplante.

Laplantetook a knife from Kozak and stabbed him once in the stomach, killing him.

Kozak was pronounced dead in hospital. Laplante later turned himself in to police.

The five-year sentence means Laplante will serve anotherthree years and three months in prison, with credit for time served in remand.