Third teen sentenced for role in library slaying

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This article was published 19/12/2023 (627 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A third teen boy has been sentenced in the unprovoked December 2022 killing of a man at Winnipeg’s downtown Millennium Library.

The youth pleaded guilty to manslaughter Tuesday in front of provincial court Judge Samuel Raposo for his role in the fatal attack on Tyree Cayer, 28.

The now-15-year-old had been in custody at the Manitoba Youth Centre for 371 days.

Crown prosecutor David Burland and defence lawyer Matthew Raffey jointly recommended the youth be sentenced to time served, along with a day of conditional supervision and 18 months of supervised probation with conditions.

Raposo accepted the recommendation and ordered the teen participate in an intensive supervision program, which allows for a higher level of support and supervision than typical probation.

Among the conditions: he complete all programming and counselling as directed by probation services; attend school; reside with his mother and stepfather; have no contact with the immediate family of the victim and his co-accused; and not enter the Millennium Library.

The teen, who cannot be named under the provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, will also be subject to a court order banning him from possessing weapons for five years.

Raffey told court the boy has taken responsibility for his actions and has made progress maturing while in custody, including recognizing the need to surround himself by more positive peers.

The defence lawyer said his young client witnessed significant domestic violence as a child and was subject to frequent moves by his family.

“He was forced to grow up quickly,” said Raffey.

Burland detailed the circumstances of the killing in an agreed statement of facts read out in court Tuesday.

A publication ban prohibits disclosing details, as the final co-accused remains before the courts.

Two other co-accused — now 16 and 15, respectively — were sentenced earlier this year.

The 16-year-old was given three years of custody and community supervision for manslaughter; the 15-year-old was given seven years custody and community supervision for second-degree murder.

On Dec. 11, 2022, Cayer was stabbed multiple times during an altercation with several male teens inside the library building on Donald Street, city police said at the time.

Cayer was a talented teen athlete and a star on Elmwood High School’s football team. He appeared destined for a professional career before a series of concussions and other injuries sidelined his dreams.

He was affected by mental health issues, including bipolar disorder, and was, at times, homeless.

On Tuesday, for the third time this year, grieving mother Tania Cayer read out a statement in court on how she was impacted by her only son’s death.

“Most days, I don’t stop crying,” she said. “He was my only child, my mother’s only grandchild.”

She pleaded with the teen boy, who she looked at as he sat quietly in the prisoner’s box, to take charge of his life and change for the better.

“You owe it to your mother. You owe it to my son,” Tania Cayer told the teen.

The teen spoke softly — nearly inaudibly — when he briefly addressed the court to apologize to the victim’s family.

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Raposo, when issuing the sentence, told the teen he hoped he took Tania Cayer’s words to heart.

Cayer’s death shocked Winnipeg and caused civic officials to overhaul security at the downtown branch, which was mostly closed to the public until Jan. 23.

On Tuesday, Burland said the killing not only deeply affected the victim’s family, but library staffers, too — some of whom have not yet returned to work after seeing a man killed in their workplace.

The fourth and final teen accused in Cayer’s death, who is charged with manslaughter, is next due in court in January.

erik.pindera@freepress.mb.ca

Erik Pindera
Reporter

Erik Pindera is a reporter for the Free Press, mostly focusing on crime and justice. The born-and-bred Winnipegger attended Red River College Polytechnic, wrote for the community newspaper in Kenora, Ont. and reported on television and radio in Winnipeg before joining the Free Press in 2020.  Read more about Erik.

Every piece of reporting Erik produces is reviewed by an editing team before it is posted online or published in print — part of the Free Press‘s tradition, since 1872, of producing reliable independent journalism. Read more about Free Press’s history and mandate, and learn how our newsroom operates.