Teen sentenced to life in prison

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 18/03/2020 (2193 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg teen responsible for an unprovoked attack that ended in the death of a 73-year-old stranger has been sentenced as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for six years.

The now 17-year-old boy pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the September 2018 killing of James Barrington Olson.

“The unprovoked and random nature of this assault is shocking,” provincial court Judge Heather Pullan wrote in a 73-page decision released Monday. “The appearance is that (the youth) was dedicated to seriously harming anyone he saw who had the misfortune to cross his path.”

Olson was walking along Redwood Avenue around 2 a.m. when the then-15-year-old accused ran across the street toward Olson and within seconds began punching and kicking him. The youth continued to kick and stomp on Olson’s head and chest for 15 minutes as he lay motionless on the ground before police interrupted the attack and arrested him.

Olson was transported to Health Sciences Centre where he died a short time later.

Pullan said the teen’s actions were all the more alarming because he acted alone.

“He alone made the decision, for reasons not clear,” she said. “It was (he) alone who made the decision to victimize an elderly person in the fashion that he did.”

In June 2018, the boy was sentenced to 105 days served and 18 months supervised probation for assaulting a girlfriend, carrying a concealed weapon (a machete) and robbery. Two months later — and a month before the murder — he was involved in a violent home invasion for which he was later sentenced to three years in custody and community supervision.

According to a pre-sentence report provided to court, the teen assaulted two other youths while in custody and confirmed his continuing membership in a gang.

“He continues to be a big supporter of his gang and its leader and has no plans on leaving,” a probation officer wrote.

The teen’s upbringing was marked by “poverty, exposure to substance abuse, violence and hunger,” defence lawyer Sandra Bracken told court at an earlier hearing, while psychological reports submitted to court pointed to a “provisional diagnosis” of cognitive impairment and “emotional disturbance.”

Bracken argued the teen should be sentenced as a youth under an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) order. The IRCS program allows participants access to one-on-one counselling, occupational therapy, tutoring and other specialized services at a cost of $100,000 a year.

“The plan as indicated is fulsome and rich,” Pullan said. “The unknown feature is the degree to which (the teen) is prepared to deliver on his commitments… He says he is. His pattern is to the contrary. What is at stake is public safety.”

In a victim impact statement previously provided to court, family members described Olson as a caring, but sometimes troubled man who “shared all he had with everyone.”

Olson’s relationship with his children was at times strained, his son Jason told court, “but we still loved him.”

“Reconstructing and building that relationship with our dad is not feasible anymore… we missed our chance,” he said. “We are left with a hole in our family, as well as a hole in our hearts.”

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca