A Windsor man has been sentenced to six years in prison in the death of his friend.
Jordan Ganovicheff, 33, had pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the death of 35-year-old David Lattimer.
In December 2016, police were called to an apartment at 810 Ouellette Ave. and found Ganovicheff with Lattimer in a choke hold.
Lattimer was taken to the hospital and died.
The two men had been fighting over a stolen vehicle and both had smoked crystal meth.
In arguing for a sentence of 5-8 years, Assistant Crown Bryan Pillon said the dark cloud in the case was drugs.
The defence wanted a sentence as low as three years.
Karel Murray holds photos of her brother David Lattimer who was killed in December 2016. (Photo by AM800's Teresinha Medeiros)
Outside the Ontario Courthouse, Lattimer's sister Karel Murray says her brother is missed.
"He gave the best, biggest hugs ever," she said. "He loved hard on the people that he loved and the people who didn't know him wouldn't know that he was a great big teddy bear."
She says the family had hoped for a longer sentence.
"A little overwhelmed, a little stressed, we wished he had gotten some more time. It is very hard to listen in court about how Jordan is taking classes and moving forward and once he gets out this is what he is going to do and we will never have David again."
Ganovicheff told the victim's family that he will never forgive himself for what he did and called it a terrible tragic accident but Justice Marietta Roberts pointed out that death is foreseeable when you put someone in a choke hold for a period of time.
During victim impact statements, Lattimer's mother Karen Lattimer said she spoke to her son for 18 minutes on December 2, 2016.
"It is the most cherished 18 minutes of my life." she said.
"It is not easy," she said turning to Ganovicheff. "But I forgive you."
Ganovicheff will be given credit for time already served, so he will spend another 4.5 years in custody.