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Cries and shouts could be heard inside an Edmonton courtroom after Ashley Rattlesnake, 30, was sentenced to three years and nine months in prison for the death of eight-year-old Nina Napope Dumais.
Rattlesnake’s sentence was reduced by the justice because she pleaded guilty, among other factors.
She will serve time in a prison outside of Alberta.
Family and friends of Nina filled the courtroom, many wearing shirts bearing the young girl’s image and the words “Justice for Nina” on the back.
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 Nina’s family and the Edmonton Police Service, who asked a provincial justice official to intervene, calling the proposed agreement a “miscarriage of justice” that should be reviewed.
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.
Agreed statement of facts
An agreed statement of facts outlines the events of April 22, 2023. Nina was under Rattlesnake’s care at the time of her death.
Nina 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, read the agreed statement of facts.
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.
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.
Medical examiner findings
A medical examiner determined that Nina had suffered numerous injuries — some recent, some months-old — consistent with chronic child abuse, read the agreed statement.
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.
