Fort Resolution (Feb 02/04) - A Fort Resolution woman has been sent to jail for selling liquor to a teenager.

The 16-year-old took his own life hours after buying the alcohol.

In a tense Territorial Court sitting Jan. 21, Laura Margaret Edjericon, 38, was sentenced to seven months in jail on a charge of supplying liquor to a minor under the NWT Liquor Act.

Edjericon pleaded guilty.

According to Fort Resolution RCMP, she sold a 26-ounce bottle of liquor to the teenager in the early evening of Aug. 23, 2003.

About 11:30 that night, the youth committed suicide.

Cpl. Sylvain Lemoyne says the teenager had been drinking with a group of people. They shared the bottle purchased from Edjericon and were consuming other alcohol.

Lemoyne said the atmosphere in courtroom was tense as the sentence was passed down by Judge Michel Bourassa.

The judge called a recess after the courtroom erupted into crying and yelling. Edjericon, who Lemoyne described as calm, was removed from court and taken to the RCMP detachment.

There was tension between the two families involved for a few days following the sentencing, Lemoyne said.

"Now it seems like things are getting back to normal," he said.

The corporal says the sentence is a step in the right direction to prevent the sale of alcohol to teenagers in Fort Resolution.

"I think it is sending a message to the community here," said Lemoyne.

Coroner to report

A report on the teenager's death will be released in a couple of months, said NWT chief coroner Percy Kinney.

Such reports are written on all deaths reported to the coroner's office.

"What we're trying to do is make recommendations to prevent future deaths," Kinney said.

He added that it is not always possible to determine why someone committed suicide.

If a person is intoxicated at the time of a suicide, it is also difficult to determine what role the alcohol played in the death, said Kinney.