Ryan Gatzke's mother, June, following court Monday. (Angela Brown/battlefordsNOW Staff)

By Angela Brown

RCMP investigation

Accused in Gatzke death pleads guilty to manslaughter

Jun 12, 2023 | 4:17 PM

One of the accused individuals in the death of Ryan John Gatzke in Battleford in 2019 pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Court of King’s Bench Monday.

Jacob Joseph Ballantyne, 28, of Edam, was originally charged with second-degree murder in the case. He instead pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

Prosecutors Kofi Nkrumah-Young and Jennifer Schmidt represented the Crown, and lawyer Timothy Nolin acted as defence counsel in the case, with Justice Daryl Labach presiding.

Labach reserved his sentencing decision until June 22.

The court ordered a publication ban on the details of the case until all the accused individuals have gone through the court process.

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Among the co-accused, Charles Michael Lewis McLean , 25, of North Battleford, was previously sentenced to four years in custody, after pleading guilty to manslaughter last year.

Isaac Melko , 25, of North Battleford, received a sentence of 12 years in custody, after pleading guilty to manslaughter in February of 2023.

An 18-year-old male North Battleford resident, who was 17 years old at the time of incident and cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, facing a charge of second degree murder, had a judge-alone trial in April of 2023. The youth was instead found guilty of manslaughter in May. Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown reserved the sentencing decision to Oct. 20.

Police previously reported, Gatzke, 27, was found with serious injuries in a Battleford home on Oct. 18, 2019, and later declared deceased after being taken to hospital.

Following court, Gatzke’s mother, June Gatzke, said it’s been a “really hard struggle” for her going through this process.

“It’s changed my whole life for me, and for everybody,” she said of losing her son Ryan.

June said Ryan was always a hard worker during his life, and held down two jobs, in construction and roofing, and owned his own house. His fiancé was expecting their first child, who June is now helping raise when the little girl is here.

“It rips me apart every time,” June said of the experience of having to keep coming back to court.

“It rips me apart every night, because he [Ryan] was there with me, every day,” she added.

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Angela.Brown@pattisonmedia.com

On Twitter: @battlefordsnow