Teen sentenced to three years in custody for manslaughter, violent attacks on other youths

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This article was published 19/11/2024 (322 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A 15-year-old boy who set off an unprovoked mob attack that claimed the life of one man before directing violent assaults on three of his own cohort has been sentenced to three years custody and conditional supervision in the community.

The boy pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the Nov. 11, 2023 slaying of 27-year-old Peter Filip. Three years is the maximum available sentence for a youth convicted of manslaughter.

“The public is very concerned about violent group swarming of unsuspecting members of the public going about their business,” provincial court Judge Anne Krahn wrote in a recently released ruling. “The sentence needs to reflect the seriousness of this random violence and denounce it, while not losing sight of (the youth’s) potential for rehabilitation.”

The youth, who was 14 at the time Filip was killed, pleaded guilty to additional counts of robbery and possession of a prohibited firearm and was handed a concurrent sentence of 17 months that would result in no additional jail time.

Court heard the youth had texted a friend saying: “I want you to f—k someone up” before meeting the friend and five other youths at a downtown hotel at about 1:30 a.m.

The seven youths walked to the Lipstixx strip bar at 1105 Arlington St., where Filip, a stranger to the group, arrived on his bicycle at 1:56 a.m.

Security video showed the group in the back lane and one of the males saying: “Who we robbing?”

One of the youths pushed Filip off his bicycle and struck him with a sawed-off rifle while another youth kicked him. When Filip tried to run away, he was surrounded by three of the youths, including the accused, and beaten as another youth recorded the attack on his cellphone.

Filip broke away from the group and was taken to the ground again and was kicked and stomped before one of his attackers stabbed him once in the heart.

The accused “gave two gratuitous kicks to Mr. Filip while he was down on the ground and incapacitated,” Krahn said. “The group of seven joined again in the back lane and appeared to celebrate the attack and left the area.”

Filip tried to get to his feet but collapsed. Passersby stopped to help, but he was pronounced dead 30 minutes later.

Sometime later, the accused instigated an attack on three members of the group, including a 13-year-old boy he accused of “talking s—t” to his cousin.

The victims had their clothing taken away. One victim was beaten with the rifle and a set of brass knuckles, another was made to do push-ups in a puddle while being kicked in the face. The victims were forced to kiss the feet of their attackers.

The accused recorded the attack on his cellphone and later posted portions of it on social media.

Krahn said the three assault victims had been lured to join the accused and his friends for the purpose of confronting them.

The accused was arrested in a cab in possession of a rifle on Nov. 26, just minutes after he and two unidentified youths discharged bear spray in a home. He wasn’t charged in Filip’s killing until Dec. 11.

Court heard the accused had a family background marred by addictions and instability and had not attended school since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.

According to a pre-sentence report provided to court, the youth “has recently been willing to work on accepting responsibility for his actions and improving his positive decision making, but has a long road ahead of him.”

In an interview with the Free Press last December, Filip’s mother, Coi Nguyen, said her son enjoyed travelling and had worked at various jobs in retail stores, restaurants and home renovations.

He was born in Winnipeg and moved to Mississippi to live with his mother and sister when he was a boy. He stayed there through his high school years, and in 2016 returned to Winnipeg, where his father lives.

“He was very much loved by everyone,” Nguyen said.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca