Edmonton court hears gang reprisal claim in 2023 homicide case
First of four accused in Gabriel Dumont's death pleads guilty to manslaughter; court told killing was Redd Alert gang reprisal.
The day's top stories, food & events — every morning at 7. Unsubscribe anytime.
The first of four men charged in the April 2023 killing of Gabriel Dumont pleaded guilty Friday in Edmonton Court of King's Bench. Dustin Couterielle-Hilton admitted to manslaughter with a firearm, down from an initial first-degree murder charge.
According to court documents, Dumont, 35, was a "full patch" member of Redd Alert, an Indigenous street gang, but had fallen out of favour with the group. On April 8, 2023, Couterielle-Hilton and three other Redd Alert members planned to strip him of his membership. They staked out his apartment at 10944-97 St., storing a .22-calibre rifle and a 12-gauge shotgun in a neighbouring building. They found Dumont in a stairwell at 10948-97 St. and shot him once with each firearm; the shotgun blast damaged his heart. All four men fled. The guns were never recovered.
Prosecutor Lawrence Van Dyke told the court it is unknown which of the four men fired the shots, but they formed a common plan to injure or kill Dumont. Couterielle-Hilton remained in custody wearing orange Edmonton Remand Centre coveralls. While jailed last year, he wrote a letter to a woman whose apartment had been used to hide the weapons, containing a scripted statement he hoped she would give to his lawyer and prosecutors. Remand staff intercepted the letter before it reached her.
Couterielle-Hilton's sentencing hearing is set for August 21, 2026. His defence lawyer has requested a Gladue report to assess how his Indigenous background may have influenced his offending.
