Kamloops prison stabbing nets two-year sentence

A repeat Kamloops offender was handed another two-year sentence Tuesday after admitting to stabbing an inmate.

The victim was already fighting another man when Tristan Bris Fernandez, 29, joined and used a makeshift knife, or “shank,” to stab him three times in the torso, Crown prosecutor Andrew Duncan said. He pleaded guilty to assault with a weapon, March 24.

It happened in June 2023 while he was behind bars awaiting trial for an armed robbery. The entire incident was recorded by the Kamloops Regional Correctional Centre’s surveillance cameras.

Duncan told the court that guards knew something was coming as Fernandez and another inmate were “whispering and glancing around” while playing cards. An hour-and-a-half later, inmates were heading back to their cells for lock-up when the confrontation started.

The inmate Fernandez was playing cards with was washing dishes when he was confronted by Jordan Bouvette. Bouvette threw the first punch and the pair started exchanging blows, but Fernandez joined a few seconds later.

“Fernandez pulled a knife-shaped object from his front waistband and proceeds to stab Bouvette three times to the side,” Duncan said.

When Bouvette fell back on a table, he kicked Fernandez away. Fernandez then tucked the knife back in his waistband and ran away as correctional officers rushed in to stop the fight.

Bouvette, whose wounds weren’t life-threatening, was treated at Royal Inland Hospital where police took a statement from him. Defence lawyer Jeremy Jensen said Bouvette wasn’t expected to cooperate and testify.

Fernandez, who is also awaiting trial for murder, pleaded guilty a month before the stabbing and was scheduled for trial. The 29-year-old repeat offender first encountered the justice system at 14 and has dozens of previous court files.

BC Supreme Court Justice Dennis Hori agreed with a joint submission from the Crown and Jensen sentencing Fernandez to two years in jail. With credit for time-served, it was reduced to just less than a year.