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Manslaughter charges stayed against mother

Prosecution against the mother of a 24-year-old woman found deceased outside of Cochrane has been halted.
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Twenty-four-year-old Sarah Rabik was found deceased along Highway 8 outside of Cochrane.

A Calgary mother charged with manslaughter in the death of her daughter has had the charges against her stayed.

Debora Rabik, 62, of Calgary, originally was charged with second-degree murder and causing an indignity to a body in the death of her daughter, Sarah Rabik, whose body was found along Highway 8, southeast of Cochrane on Feb. 26, 2021.

The charges against Debora Rabik were later changed to manslaughter. A preliminary inquiry was held in April and Debora Rabik was ordered to stand trial.

However, the charges against her were stayed June 24 at arraignment.

Stayed charges are a pause, or more frequently a permanent halt to the prosecution.

The Cochrane Eagle reached out to Alberta Justice about the Rabik case.

“With respect to this matter, it was stayed on June 24 as it no longer met the standard for prosecution,” wrote Katherine Thompson. communications advisor for Alberta Justice and Solicitor General.

Thompson also explained how criminal prosecutions are reviewed as they make their way through the system.

“A key duty of a Crown prosecutor is to assess their cases on an ongoing basis and ensure all aspects of the evidence are carefully considered at every stage of a prosecution,” Thompson wrote. “Crown prosecutor assessment continues after the initial decision is made to lay charges and prosecutors evaluate the evidence in light of the prosecution standard continually to ensure that that the matter is in the public interest and there is a reasonable likelihood of conviction. 

“If at any time following the laying of charges the Crown prosecutor determines that there is insufficient evidence to proceed, or it is not in the public interest to continue, the charges may be stayed or withdrawn.” 

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