Judge sentences teen to seven years for ‘senseless’ killing of girl

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This article was published 16/12/2024 (267 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

A Winnipeg teen who stabbed a 14-year-old girl to death in the middle of the afternoon, steps away from police headquarters, has been sentenced to seven years custody and conditional supervision for the ‘vicious’ act.

Under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the now 18-year-old offender and the Indigenous teen victim cannot be identified by name.

Court has heard both teens faced life struggles and disadvantages that weren’t properly addressed by community support services.

King’s Bench Justice Sarah Inness consented to a joint Crown and defence recommendation the offender serve his second-degree murder sentence under an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision order. The program allows participants access to one-on-one counselling, occupational therapy, tutoring and other specialized services at a cost of $100,000 a year.

Court heard the offender and his girlfriend were with the victim and another friend at a Tim Hortons restaurant on Graham Avenue in the mid-afternoon, Dec. 15, 2023, when the offender and victim got into an argument that spilled out onto the street.

Security video showed the offender setting a cup of coffee and an iced drink aside as he pulled a knife from his waistband and stabbed the girl four times before she fell to the ground.

The offender stabbed the girl 10 more times as she lay “flailing” on the ground, before running away, Crown attorney Shane Smith told court.

“It was senseless, it was vicious,” Smith said. The offender “stabbed her so many times, and continued to do so when her back was turned and she was defenceless.”

The girl was rushed to Health Sciences Centre in critical condition and was pronounced dead three hours later.

Police arrested the offender three days later. The teen initially denied stabbing the girl before claiming he felt threatened by the girl, who he thought had a gun and might harm his girlfriend.

Court heard the teen has been diagnosed with fetal alcohol spectrum disorder, attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, social anxiety, and an intellectual disability and low IQ.

A forensic report prepared for court quoted the teen as saying: “I’m 18, but in my head I feel like I’m a five-year-old.”

A week before the stabbing, the teen’s family took him to hospital suffering a suspected mental health crisis, but did not receive timely help, court was told.

“Sometimes it takes a criminal act for these challenges that a young person faces to see the light of day,” said defence lawyer Brett Gladstone. “Unfortunately, this appears to be one of those situations.”

The teen girl’s brother provided a victim impact statement to court describing her as a “beautiful young soul.”

“She went through so much growing up in and out of care,” said the man, who played a recording of a song he wrote in her memory.

The girl was released from custody on bail just one day before she was killed. At the time of her release, court was told a firm placement had not yet been secured for her.

“Sometimes it takes a criminal act for these challenges that a young person faces to see the light of day. Unfortunately, this appears to be one of those situations.”–Defence lawyer Brett Gladstone

“What (she) needs and what will be best for her, the province will not fund,” Tammy Oram, the girl’s case worker, told court.

“I wish she was a priority for the province,” she said. “Unfortunately, we have many youth that have similar needs to (hers) or are in similar predicaments.”

Court heard the girl struggled with an addiction, was on a wait list for a fetal alcohol spectrum disorder assessment, and frequently went missing from her previous foster home.

She spent much of her life in the child welfare system and was moved between homes in northern Manitoba and Winnipeg in the months before she was killed, a former foster mother said at the time.

Oram told court she was trying to secure a specialized placement for the girl but, as a child in provincial care, that was out of reach without additional funding.

“We’ve sought Jordan’s Principle for assistance with what the province won’t cover for what her needs are, (but) Jordan’s Principle is just very backlogged now,” she said.

The Jordan’s Principle program requires governments of first contact to cover the costs of services for Indigenous children and work out jurisdiction disputes later.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca