Teen who played part in 17-year-old’s death asks to stay in custody By: Dean Pritchard Posted: 7:00 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 24, 2021 Last Modified: 7:31 PM CDT Thursday, Jun. 24, 2021 Updates

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This article was published 23/06/2021 (1184 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg teen who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his part in the May 2019 slaying of a 17-year-old boy urged a judge Thursday to allow him to remain in custody a little while longer before beginning a three-year sentence in the community.

“I honestly didn’t think that I would be released today,” the 17-year-old boy told Queen’s Bench Justice Ann Turner. “I was hoping to stay a while longer to prepare myself” and say goodbye to staff and friends.

Turner agreed to the unusual request, postponing his formal release until early July, when a support worker could transport him directly home.

“That’s a super mature choice,” Turner told the youth. “That’s not something I hear a lot, that someone wants to go back and get that closure.”

The Youth Criminal Justice Act prohibits identifying the youth or his victim by name.

According to an agreed statement of facts provided to court, the then 15-year-old youth and a 15-year-old co-accused had been engaged in a heated argument over social media with the the 17 year old victim in the days prior to the killing, culminating with the youth confronting the victim outside an Alfred Avenue home.

“I honestly didn’t think that I would be released today. I was hoping to stay a while longer to prepare myself.”
– 17-year-old teen who pleaded guilty to manslaughter for his part in the May 2019 slaying of a 17-year-old boy

The youth punched the victim in the head, at which point the co-accused, hiding behind a fence with a sawed-off .22 calibre rifle, shot the boy through the neck.

A video captured by a witness on Snapchat showed the youth then kicking the boy as he lay motionless on the ground.

The slain boy’s social worker read out a victim impact statement in court on behalf of his younger siblings. No one else appeared in court on his behalf.

The boy “was one of the kindest, goofiest and most resilient children I have ever met,” Eliza Pescador told court, her voice at times cracking with emotion. “(His) siblings want people to know how hard… (he) worked at his goals, at finishing his education and changing his trajectory.”

Turner agreed to a joint Crown and defence recommendation that the offender be sentenced to a Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision order, which is typically reserved for the most troubled youths. Under the program, participants are provided access to one-on-one counselling, tutoring, occupational therapy and other specialized services at a cost of $100,000 a year.

“… one of the kindest, goofiest and most resilient children I have ever met. (His) siblings want people to know how hard… (he) worked at his goals, at finishing his education and changing his trajectory.”
– Victim impact statement read by the slain boy’s social worker in court

Court heard the boy has shown a marked turnaround since coming into custody, “evolving” from a violent, aspiring gang member to a straight A student who wants to become a professional therapist.

“He’s a very different young man now,” said defence lawyer Mike Cook. “He opened up his heart and allowed people who cared about him genuinely help him to advance.”

According to a doctor’s report provided to court, an untreated diagnosis of severe attention deficit hyperactivity disorder likely contributed to the boy’s “uncontrolled behaviour.”

The boy and his father resisted medication for the disorder prior to his incarceration, fearing he would be stigmatized as mentally ill, Crown attorney Jodi Koffman said.

“He is starting to learn it is not a defect, it is not a disability, it is just something he has to deal with,” she said.

In a short address to court, the boy apologized “for taking something so valuable” from the victim’s family.

“I regret it every day,” he said. “I’m ashamed of my actions that day. All I’m looking for now is forgiveness from the community. I contributed to an unsafe environment out there. I want to be accepted back into my community.”

The boy’s co-accused pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and sentenced last year to seven years custody and community supervision.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Someone once said a journalist is just a reporter in a good suit. Dean Pritchard doesn’t own a good suit. But he knows a good lawsuit.

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