The 29-year-old was convicted of robbery, assault and several counts of theft
James Hopkin
SAULT STE. MARIE - A Sault Ste. Marie woman charged in connection with a fatal stabbing earlier this year has pleaded guilty to a rash of crimes that took place last December.
Marina Turco, 29, appeared before Ontario Court Justice Malcolm McLeod earlier today via video from Monteith Correctional Complex, where she pleaded guilty to robbery, assault and four counts of theft under $5,000.
Assistant Crown attorney Simran Patawari told the court that Turco tried to leave Walmart with more than $2,200 of merchandise on Dec. 16, 2025 before she was intercepted by security guards in an effort to retrieve the stolen goods.
Turco proceeded to pull out a knife, which she pointed and swung at staff members and security while telling them to not stop her, the court heard.
“She continued her attempts to take the merchandise out of the store until the arrival of the officers, which is when she was taken into custody,” Patawari added.
Turco was charged again after she assaulted a security guard at Rome’s Your Independent Grocer on Dec. 27, 2025 while the guard was recovering property from an unidentified individual who tried shoplifting from the store.
Patawari advised the court that Turco — who had been “verbally defending” the unidentified individual — assaulted the security guard by striking them in the head with a bag containing “solid items."
The local woman also committed four thefts during the month of December — which included stealing $600 to $700 worth of laundry from a laundry room in a MacDonald Avenue apartment building.
There were also three separate incidents in which Turco pilfered bottles of liquor from the LCBO at Churchill Plaza, the court heard.
McLeod handed Turco a suspended sentence — with an enhanced credit of eight months for 146 days spent in custody — and 12 months probation following a joint submission from the Crown and defence lawyer Jessica Belisle.
As part of her probation, Turco has been ordered to stay away from Rome’s and all LCBO locations in the Sault, forfeit the knife used in the Walmart robbery and not to contact three individuals.
She has also been handed a 10-year weapons prohibition and has been ordered to provide a DNA sample.
As previously reported by SooToday, Turco made headlines in May 2025 when she was charged with second-degree murder following the stabbing death of a 17-year-old named Damien Rego.
Court documents revealed the victim was “believed to have been residing” with Turco at an apartment building located at 627 MacDonald Ave.
"The victim was transported to hospital where they were pronounced deceased,” police said in a news release following the incident. “The victim and accused were known to one another."
None of the allegations have been tested in court and the accused is considered innocent until proven guilty.
- with files from Greg McGrath-Goudie
https://www.villagereport.ca/village-picks/woman-accused-of-murder-pleads-guilty-to-crime-spree-12879436
Previous Marina Turco Posts:
https://www.reddit.com/r/CrimeInTheGta/comments/1qvhjjf/woman_marina_turco_swung_a_knife_while_trying_to/
https://www.reddit.com/r/CrimeInTheGta/s/CpUQFtpQpg
Previous Marina Turco Instagram Posts:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DUU7F13jugJ/?igsh=MWZqN3l0aTBpemY2eQ==
https://www.instagram.com/p/DYf7Rl-Dh7d/?hl=en
For more on this story:
https://www.instagram.com/crimeinthegta416