Adult sentence for teen who killed three strangers at random

A man has been sentenced as an adult to life in prison with no chance of parole for at least seven years for killing three strangers in random attacks that took place within an hour.

The man, now 19, pleaded guilty earlier this year to two counts of second-degree murder for the Aug. 22, 2022, attacks on Danielle Dawn Ballantyne, 36, and Marvin William Felix, 54. He also pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the killing of Troy Baguley, 51.

He was 15 at the time of the killings.

The offender “has participated in three serious homicides… and the maximum available youth sentence would not be sufficient to hold him accountable,” Court of King’s Bench Justice Gerald Chartier said in court Wednesday. “These offences were all serious and extremely violent physical attacks on random strangers carried out in three separate instances in quick succession.”

The maximum youth sentence for second-degree murder is seven years, at least three of which would be served in the community under conditional supervision.

“Such a sentence is not long enough, given the offences and (the offender’s) involvement in them,” Chartier said.

Ballantyne, a mother of four, was beaten to death. Separate attacks on Felix, an amputee who used a wheelchair, and Baguley, a man with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses, left them with severe injuries. Both later died.

The man apologized while addressing the court in July, as family and supporters of the victims sat in the gallery.

“I’m here to take full responsibility for the pain and suffering that I’ve caused,” he said at the time. “I know that an apology cannot erase the past, but I hope that in time… I can show that I’m working to become a better person, one who acknowledges their wrongs and takes responsibility… I’m not asking for forgiveness, but I do ask for a chance to prove that I’m not the same person that committed these acts.”

Details of the killings were laid out at the July hearing, during which lawyers for the Crown and defence argued whether the teen should be sentenced as an adult or a youth.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, youths are considered to be of “diminished moral blameworthiness,” compared to adults. To persuade a court to impose an adult sentence, prosecutors must successfully “rebut” that presumption and satisfy a judge that a youth sentence isn’t long enough to hold an offender accountable.

Court heard the offender and a co-accused, who was 15 at the time, had absconded from their group home in Wolseley early Aug. 22 when they came across Baguley on Main Street, just south of Jarvis Avenue. Security video captured the teens kicking, punching and stomping on the man, pulling down his pants and exposing his genitals and dragging him from the road into a parking lot.

A then-13-year-old boy and Tristan Moose, now 24, came across the scene and kicked the victim in the body. The 13-year-old later told police they were told by the attackers that Baguley was a “skinner,” which is street slang for a sex criminal.

Baguley lost “complete cognitive capacity” as a result of the prolonged attack and died in March 2023 after his next of kin approved the removal of life-support.

Winnipeg police were responding to the attack on Baguley when they learned a woman had been badly beaten on the second floor of a nearby Jarvis Avenue apartment.

Officers found Ballantyne lying on the floor in a pool of blood, while her belongings were strewn around the hallway in front of a suite. The attackers had pulled her pants down and exposed her underwear. Broken glass was on the floor next to her head. No surveillance tape captured the attack on the woman, who was pronounced dead hours later.

After the attack on Ballantyne, the two 15-year-olds made their way to a lane off Main Street near the Bell Hotel, where they came across Felix sleeping in his wheelchair.

Security video showed the teens tossing Felix from his wheelchair before they punched, kicked and stomped on his head. They pulled him into the roadway and beat him further in the head and genitals.

Felix died in hospital days later.

Court has heard the offender has been diagnosed with FASD, ADHD, a minor intellectual disability, and has an approximate IQ of 72. He had a record for assault and weapon-related offences and was on bail at the time of the killings. A forensic report provided to court assessed him as a very high risk to reoffend.

The man provided no explanation or motive for the killings, except to say he was intoxicated at the time by alcohol and Xanax.

Chartier said he found no “causal connection” to suggest the man’s medical diagnoses played a role in his actions.

“One might be able to say the commission of one lethal assault may indicate mere impulsiveness, assuming a particular set of facts… but that cannot be maintained when the circumstances are that there are three separate, lethal assaults resulting in death,” he said.

Ballantyne’s brother said he was happy with the sentence.

“Although the sentence doesn’t bring back my sister or the two other victims, I feel like justice has been served,” Bobby Ballantyne said outside court.

Ballantyne said he may one day be able to forgive his sister’s killers, but not yet.

Winnipeg Free Press | Newsletter

Head Start

Weekday Mornings

A quick glance at the news for the upcoming day.

Sign up for Head Start

Sign Up

I agree to the Terms and Conditions, Cookie and Privacy Policies, and CASL agreement.

“Everybody deserves to heal and I hope he finds some healing,” Ballantyne said. “I’m all about second chances, but you have to prove yourself.”

Assault charges against the 13-year-old accused in connection to Baguley’s death were previously dropped.

Moose had pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and was sentenced last December to 30 months custody.

The second older teen has pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder. A charge of manslaughter related to Baguley was stayed. Prosecutors will argue an adult sentencing application with respect to that teen next month.

dean.pritchard@freepress.mb.ca

Dean Pritchard
Courts reporter

Dean Pritchard is courts reporter for the Free Press. He has covered the justice system since 1999, working for the Brandon Sun and Winnipeg Sun before joining the Free Press in 2019. Read more about Dean.

Every piece of reporting Dean 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.