BRAMPTON — Brampton Mayor Patrick Brown is calling for immediate and sweeping bail reform across Canada after the shocking murder of 29-year-old Savannah Kulla, a mother of four who was fatally shot earlier this week in a Brampton parking lot.
Speaking at a press conference Thursday alongside Peel Regional Police Superintendent David Kennedy, Brown condemned what he described as a “broken” justice system that failed to protect Kulla. “Canada’s bail system has failed victims like Savannah Kulla,” Brown said, adding that the tragedy was both predictable and preventable.
Police say Kulla was killed after meeting her former partner, 38-year-old Anthony Deschepper, who fled the scene with their 17-month-old daughter, triggering an Amber Alert across Ontario. Hours later, Deschepper was shot and killed by police in Niagara Falls during a confrontation. Kulla’s three sons and infant daughter are now left without their mother.
Superintendent Kennedy confirmed Deschepper had an extensive criminal history—including robbery, assault, and firearms charges—and was already under multiple court orders prohibiting him from contacting Kulla or possessing weapons. “Clearly, his release posed a significant risk,” Kennedy said.
Brown called Deschepper’s release “a failure of justice,” drawing parallels to the 2020 killing of Darion Henderson-Bellman, another Brampton woman murdered by a partner who was out on bail. “We said ‘never again,’” Brown said. “And yet here we are.”
The murder comes as Ottawa unveils new bail and sentencing reforms. Public Safety Minister Sean Fraser recently announced a package to tighten restrictions on repeat violent offenders, including reverse-onus bail for crimes involving firearms and intimate-partner violence, consecutive sentencing for repeat offenders, and the addition of 1,000 new RCMP officers to help enforce the changes.
Brown noted that Brampton was one of the first cities to demand tougher bail standards and zero tolerance for weapons-related breaches. “There is no reason this individual should have been free,” he said. “We owe it to Savannah to fix this system once and for all.”
Kulla’s mother, Karen, shared that her daughter had expressed fear for her life. “She said to me a month ago, ‘If I stay with him, he’s going to end up killing me,’” she told reporters.
Mayor Brown concluded his remarks by urging the federal government to back legislative changes with real funding and enforcement resources. “Updating the Criminal Code is progress,” he said. “But without proper implementation, high-risk offenders will continue to slip through the cracks — and families like Savannah’s will continue to pay the ultimate price.”