Justice temporarily delayed for slain Sagkeeng teen’s mother

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This article was published 25/04/2018 (2340 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

There will be another wait for Serena McKay’s mother to learn the fate of the two girls who helped kill her daughter.

Yet as Delores Daniels left the courtroom Thursday, surrounded by family and clutching a framed photo of her daughter, she was one step closer to learning how justice would be served for McKay’s April 2017 murder.

At the morning hearing, provincial court Judge Rocky Pollack delayed his expected sentencing decision on the first of two youths who pleaded guilty to McKay’s killing. But he did make his decision on an unusual set of victim impact statements.

Daniels was a “little disappointed” that Pollack delayed the sentencing decision until June, she said. But she also acknowledged that the specifics of the crime make it a precedent-setting case: “He has a lot to consider,” she said.

It’s been just over a year since 19-year-old McKay’s body was found in a yard on Sagkeeng First Nation. She had been brutally beaten and, unable to seek help or safety, died of hypothermia after being left outside in the cold.

Two girls, one 16 and the other 17 at the time of the attack, were charged with McKay’s killing.

The older girl pleaded guilty to second-degree murder; because she was a minor at the time of the assault, she cannot be named. The younger teen pleaded guilty to manslaughter, and will be sentenced later this summer.

After the attack and to the community’s horror, two graphic videos of the assault surfaced on social media. Both videos were taken on the 17-year-old’s phone; they showed McKay battered and sobbing as the girls struck her.

The videos flew across social media. Despite attempts to get them taken down, they remain online now.

That grisly factor paved the way for an unusual inclusion in the Crown’s push for a maximum youth sentence: a series of victim impact statements from folks who never knew McKay, but who felt trauma after seeing the video.

In all, the Crown submitted 32 victim impact statements for the judge’s consideration. Most came from McKay’s relatives and family friends, who spoke of the ongoing grief and fear they endured in the wake of her murder.

But there were also eight statements from people who had no direct connection to McKay. They included some statements from people as far afield as New York and Texas, who had watched the video and felt traumatized.

Defence lawyer Greg Brodsky challenged those inclusions as ineligible under the criminal code’s definitions. The courts, Brodsky argued, “cannot just create eligible writers of victim impact statements by seeing a video.”

On Thursday, Pollack ruled that all 24 statements from people who knew McKay would be included in his sentencing considerations: the breadth is “tantamount to a family impact statement, or a community impact statement,” he said.

But Pollack did not accept the eight statements from people who did not know McKay. Several of them contained material that was “clearly prejudicial,” he said, and others did not apply directly to his sentencing consideration.

After the hearing, Daniels said she thought Pollack should have considered those eight statements.

“(Seeing that video) was tough on a lot of people,” she said. “I had so many messages from people that were impacted… if there was some type of harm to them, it should have been considered.”

Now, Daniels will wait until June 4 to learn Pollack’s decision.

The youth maximum would include four years in custody and 18 months in a supervised setting, on top of pre-sentence custody. The defence has asked for one year in custody, followed by probation.

Earlier this week, the first youth apologized in court to McKay’s family. In a brief and emotional statement, she described how the “nightmare” of that night still haunts her, and pledged never to touch a drop of alcohol again.

Daniels couldn’t hear that apology very well — the girl spoke quietly — but said no apology could ever be enough to make up for the loss of her daughter. She also said she thought the girls should have been facing adult sentences.

As she stood surrounded by family and supporters, she spoke of how their close-knit family, along with a strong faith in God, has helped them face each day since McKay’s death: one day, she said, she will see her daughter again.

“It’s been a really rough year,” Daniels said. “I really miss my daughter. But I’ve been coping, I’ve been strong.

“I just want the youth to know that they can’t use violence like this, and they can’t continue to do this to other peers. Whatever they’re feeling — spite or jealousy or whatever it is — they can’t do this to others. It’s not acceptable.”

melissa.martin@freepress.mb.ca