Kayla Natomagan hugs her mother, Erica Hennie, outside court. Photo by Chelsea Laskowski.
A La Ronge teen says she feels ready to talk after the sentencing for the man who kidnapped her last winter.
Jonas Budd killed Kayla Natomagan’s boyfriend, 17-year-old Dustin Bird, and then kidnapped her, months after Natomagan’s mom broke up with him.
Budd was handed a life sentence last Friday after pleading guilty to murder and kidnapping charges. He won’t be eligible for parole for at least 14 years.
Natomagan says when RCMP started following them after an Amber Alert was issued, she was hopeful but scared.
“I had a sense of relief, but I was also terrified,” she says. “Because once they turned on the lights, he started speeding up. And he took off on that gravel road, which was filled with snow at the time and he could have just spun off and hit the ditch, or something. I was terrified.”
Natomagan got away safely.
She says the life sentence without parole for 14 years is not a fit sentence for the harm Budd caused.
“I don’t think there’s going to be any justice for Dustin. He really didn’t deserve to go.”
Natomagan is set to graduate this year, and says healing has been a slow journey.