AS a young killer stood before a judge Thursday, his supportive family crowding the packed courtroom, there was one very important person missing.
His father, the man whose life he took.
"Because of your actions, your family is never truly going to be re-united," provincial court Judge Catherine Carlson.
"I understand you loved your father. His death is a tragedy."
The 17-year-old -- who can't be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act -- pleaded guilty to the August 2006 killing of his 36-year-old dad.
He was handed a two-year custody and supervision order under a joint-recommendation from Crown and defence lawyers.
It marks his first criminal conviction and means 16 months in jail followed by eight months of re-integration to society, in addition to three months he served behind bars before getting bail last winter.
The Crown had agreed not to seek an adult sentence in exchange for the guilty plea. They also reduced a second-degree murder charge down to manslaughter.
The teen and his dad got into a heated argument that turned violent as they drank alcohol inside their West Kildonan home, court was told. The man's common-law wife was also involved in the dispute.
The older man began assaulting his son, who responded by grabbing a knife and stabbing him several times.
Carlson said she's deeply troubled by the amount of unanswered questions surrounding the reasons for the killing.
"There was an extreme level of violence here. And it's not clear to me how much alcohol had to do with this, if at all," she said.
The victim was rushed from his Tanner Street townhouse in critical condition but died in hospital.
Neighbours told the Free Press at the time there was a loud disturbance coming from inside the home just prior to the fatal attack. The caretaker even warned the father -- who had just moved in with his wife and three children about three weeks earlier -- to be quiet or face eviction.
Child and Family Services seized the other two younger children in the home, including an infant.
The teen killer has battled drug and alcohol issues which he now hopes to get treatment for while in jail, court was told.
He was also ordered to undergo domestic counselling and abstain from drugs, alcohol and weapons once released from custody and back in the community.
Defence lawyer Greg Hawrysh said the young man wants to go back to school -- he's only completed Grade 9 -- and eventually "make something of himself".
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