Alberta woman to serve less than 4 years in prison for young girl's death after getting credit for time served

Cries and shouts could be heard interior an Edmonton courtroom after Ashley rattler, 30, was told she would do triplet years and 9 months in prison for the death of eight-year-old Nina Napope Dumais. 

Rattlesnake was initially handed an eight-year-sentence, but she was given credit for time served, and it was further reduced because of her guilty plea. The justice said he considered the Edmonton Police Service's conduct to be a mitigating factor.

She will serve time in a prison outside of Alberta.

"They're protecting someone that killed a little girl, and they're still protecting her by ... Wanting to send her out of province," Janet Blyan, Napope Dumais' great-aunt, told reporters.

Family and friends of Napope Dumais filled the courtroom, many wearing shirts bearing the young girl’s image and the words “Justice for Nina” on the back. They chanted "no justice no peace," after the sentence was read.

Rattlesnake was initially charged with first-degree murder. That charge was reduced to second-degree murder before she pleaded guilty to manslaughter in September 2025.

Her guilty plea was opposed by Napope Dumais’ family and EPS, who asked a provincial justice official to intervene, calling the proposed agreement a “miscarriage of justice” that should be reviewed.

While answering reporters' questions outside of the courthouse, Napope Dumais' aunt said the family was glad EPS got involved, even if that played a role in the sentence reduction.

"We're glad they did," Danielle Blyan said. "We're glad somebody is speaking for us."

On the first day of the sentencing hearing, the Crown recommended a nine-year sentence, noting the findings of a Gladue report. The defence was asking for seven years.

Gladue principles are a legal requirement for courts to consider the background of Indigenous offenders and alternatives to prison in sentencing.

An agreed statement of facts outlines the events of April 22, 2023. Napope Dumais was under Rattlesnake’s care at the time of her death.

Napope Dumais was the oldest of the four children who lived in the home. Rattlesnake was the only adult present. 

All four children were the biological children of Brandon Dumais, who was incarcerated at the time. All except Nina were also Rattlesnake’s biological children.

That afternoon, Rattlesnake and a friend were in a bathroom consuming alcohol and methamphetamine while the children were in another room, according to court documents.

Rattlesnake heard the children misbehaving and went to check on them. She returned to the bathroom shortly afterward and asked her friend for help.

Nina was lying motionless on a bedroom floor next to a hole in the wall. She had a swollen head and blood coming from her mouth, requiring immediate medical attention, the agreed statement of facts reads.

No one called 911.

Instead, Rattlesnake made several phone calls seeking help to dispose of the child’s body.

Another friend later arrived at the apartment, while the first friend left.

Days later, someone with knowledge of the incident reported it to police.

The first friend provided a statement to investigators. Police then contacted Rattlesnake, who told them all the children were fine and refused their request to check on their well-being.

When police later located Rattlesnake with her three biological children, she claimed Nina had been picked up by her biological mother. According to court documents, investigators determined that was not true.

During police interviews, two of the children disclosed that Nina had been subjected to regular abuse by Rattlesnake. They said the abuse was not inflicted on the other children.

"She knew what she was doing, because if she didn't know what she was doing, she would have hurt her other kids. There were three kids there, but all she did was beat Nina," Janet Blyan said after the sentencing.

CCTV footage showed another friend arriving at the apartment building with three other people, carrying an empty hockey bag. They later left with the bag, which contained Nina’s body.

On April 28, 2023, police located a hockey bag in the bed of a truck in Maskwacis, Alta. It  matched the one seen in the surveillance footage.

Nina’s body was inside.

A medical examiner determined that Nina had suffered numerous injuries — some recent, some months-old — consistent with chronic child abuse, the agreed statement of facts reads.

She was also suffering from sepsis affecting her entire body, likely caused by an untreated broken tooth.

The blunt-force head injury she suffered on April 22 was identified as the final injury that led to her death. The medical examiner concluded she may have survived that injury if not for her prior abuse and infection.

Rattlesnake knew Nina required medical care but did not seek treatment, according to court documents.

The agreed statement of facts concludes that Rattlesnake’s actions — including inflicting some of the injuries and failing to obtain medical care — caused the child’s death.

Reporter

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