SaskatoonRobbin Vermette testified that Nykera Brown spoke to her about self-harm a week before dying of a gunshot wound.Robbin Vermette shared an apartment with Brown and Andrew RosenfeldtDan Zakreski · CBC News · Posted: Nov 05, 2025 3:17 PM EST | Last Updated: 3 hours agoListen to this articleEstimated 3 minutesRobbin Vermette is the godmother of Andrew Rosenfeldt, who is charged with second-degree murder in the death of Nykera Brown. She lived with Rosenfeldt and Brown at the time of Brown’s death. (Dan Zakreski/CBC)Robbin Vermette said Nykera Brown spoke to her about killing herself in the weeks before she died of a gunshot wound.Vermette is testifying at the judge-alone second-degree murder trial of Andrew Rosenfeldt at Saskatoon Court of King’s Bench. The trial is before Justice Heather MacMillan-Brown and in its third week. Vermette is Crown prosecutor Elizabeth Addabor’s final witness.Vermette told defence lawyer Chris Murphy during cross-examination Wednesday that Brown spoke to her about suicide. She shared the Avenue P South apartment with the couple and was in her bedroom the night Brown died in the living room, she said.Vermette recalled a conversation a week to 10 days before Brown died.”She told me, ‘I want to kill myself,’ and I asked, ‘Why would you want to do that?'” Vermette said.”She said, ‘I don’t want to be around anymore.’ She very much wanted to kill herself.”Nykera Brown and Andrew Rosenfeldt (Bunny Bankz/Facebook)She testified that, after she heard a loud bang, Rosenfeldt yelled “Call 911” from the other room before running into her bedroom and saying, “Auntie, she just shot herself.”During two days of testimony, Vermette struggled to recall precise details and the timeline of what happened in the apartment, often needing to reference transcripts from the preliminary hearing and her police interview done hours after Brown died.She was inconsistent, for instance, on what time of day she recalled Brown and Rosenfeldt arguing, and whether she actually heard the fatal gunshot.On Wednesday, she testified that “I was extremely doped up, I barely knew what city I was in” when she first spoke to police. She had taken a cocktail of various prescription medications earlier in the evening for various ailments, she said.Under questioning by Murphy, she said the couple sometimes had “undesirable” friends in the apartment — they were both members of the Terror Squad street gang — but she kept to herself.”I gave Andrew the freedom as a young man to have his own life,” she said.She did recall, though, that at one point someone had stolen one of her two cats and sold it for meth.The trial continues all week.If you or someone you know is struggling, here’s where to look for help:Canada’s Suicide Crisis Helpline: Call or text 988.Kids Help Phone: 1-800-668-6868. Text 686868. Live chat counselling on the website.Canadian Association for Suicide Prevention: Find a 24-hour crisis centre.This guide from the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health outlines how to talk about suicide with someone you’re worried about.ABOUT THE AUTHORDan Zakreski is a reporter in Saskatoon.
Godmother of accused claims Nykera Brown spoke openly about self-harm
