Facebook selfie showing murder weapon helps convict killer

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A Canadian woman has been convicted of killing her friend after police discovered the murder weapon used in a picture of the pair on social media.

Cheyenne Rose Antoine, 21, pleaded guilty on Monday to killing Brittney Gargol, 18, in March 2015.

Gargol was found strangled to death near a landfill in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, with Antoine’s belt near her body.

Antoine was sentenced to seven years for manslaughter.

She was identified as a suspect after she posted a selfie on Facebook of the two of them, showing her wearing the belt hours before Gargol died.

Antoine, who was initially charged with second-degree murder, also eventually confessed to a friend that she had hit Gargol and strangled her, CBC reported from court.

She said they were drunk and high on marijuana, and got into a heated argument.

Police said that aspects of the story she first gave to them – which was that the pair had visited several bars before Gargol left with an unidentified man, while she went to see her uncle – did not add up.

They used Facebook posts to help establish the movements of the pair that night.

Police realised that Antoine’s Facebook post on Gargol’s personal page the following morning – “Where are you? Haven’t heard from you. Hope you made it home safe” – was a diversion.

As part of her plea, Antoine accepted responsibility for Gargol’s death but said she did not remember killing her.

“I will never forgive myself. Nothing I say or do will ever bring her back. I am very, very sorry… It shouldn’t have ever happened,” she said in a statement through her lawyer.

Her lawyer said her client had suffered years of abuse in the Saskatchewan care system and had gone to police to report abuse by foster parents a month before the killing.

Before Antoine was sentenced, Gargol’s aunt gave a victim impact statement to the court.

“Most days we can’t stop thinking about Brittney, what happened that night, what she must have felt fighting for her life,” Jennifer Gargol said.

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Avery Johnson decries expelled student Harley Barber’s ‘vile, abhorrent’ racist video

Before beating Auburn, Crimson Tide basketball star Braxton Key tweeted a message of support for minority groups on campus. It drew a “good job,” and thumbs up from athletics director Greg Byrne.

Then after the 76-71 rivalry win, Alabama basketball coach Avery Johnson addressed the situation unprompted by reporters at the end of his news conference.

“There was an unfortunate video, are you guys familiar with the vile, abhorrent that was released on yesterday or the day before, whatever. Obviously, I stand with the university. We don’t condone that kind of behavior. It’s very unfortunate. I know the university is going to deal with it.”

The uproar began Tuesday when a video went viral of Barber spewing racist thoughts, using the n-word repeatedly. The university said it was investigating the incidents and Wednesday the student said she had been expelled while apologizing for the hate-filled remarks.

“We have a lot of people in our organization, in our basketball operation and our team that are from a lot of different backgrounds,” Johnson continued Wednesday night. “Everybody doesn’t look like me, but we accept everybody. Wherever they’re from. Whatever their skin color is. We accept everybody.

“This university has taken a strong stand on diversity and inclusion and I stand with Dr. (Stuart) Bell and I stand with Greg Byrne with promoting an atmosphere of inclusion and we have some terrific players on our team from great families, whether it’s single parent or two parents, it doesn’t matter. So, I was really disturbed by that video and I thought you guys needed to know about that.”

In the tweet earlier Wednesday, Key said he was speaking on behalf of the Alabama basketball team.

“We will continue to use our platform to lift others up and be advocates for people who may feel like they don’t have a voice,” he wrote. “Roll Tide!”

Alabama running back Damien Harris and former defensive back Landon Collins were among the other athletes to make statements condemning Barber’s videos.

Michael Casagrande is an Alabama beat writer for the Alabama Media Group. Follow him on Twitter @ByCasagrande.

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