Judge underscores tragedy of children aging out of care in sentencing for fatal stabbing

The victim was described as "a wonderful human being."

The man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in connection with his death was called "an amazing individual."

In a case that underscores the tragedy of drug abuse, random violence and a lack of support for young people aging out of care, the two lives — both full of potential — collided on a dark Burnaby street in April 2015.

Now, one man is dead, a wife and three children to mourn him, and the other is in prison — beginning an 18-month sentence on top of 730 days of time already served.

"I want to thank everyone who came here," Judge Ellen Gordon told those gathered to watch Jordan Braun sentenced for manslaughter in the death of a victim identified as E.L.

"I want to thank the family of Mr. L. I know how difficult this was for you. It breaks everyone in this room's heart, the pain that you go through."

"And to the family and friends of Mr. Braun. You have actually, all of you, painted a picture to me of a human being, which is important."

'Hunting for a victim'

Braun's sentencing occurred in May, but an excerpt from the proceedings was only recently posted on the court's website.

According to Gordon's decision, Braun and two friends had been consuming cocaine and Xanax into the early morning hours of April 16, 2015 when they "decided that the best way to get more would be to find someone on the street to rob."

They armed themselves with weapons. One held a knife. Another "something akin to a machete," and Braun grabbed a screwdriver.

"They left the residence essentially hunting for a victim," Gordon wrote.

E.L. — whose identity is protected by a publication ban — was a recent immigrant to Canada from the Philippines. His wife was pregnant with their third child and waiting to join him once he was established.

Gordon writes that E.L. "must have sensed the danger because he apparently armed himself with a piece of wood."

The man with the knife stabbed him. And when E.L. defended himself, Braun poked him twice in the back with the screwdriver. The judge notes that E.L. died from the stab wound, not Braun's attacks.

'Setting yourself free from anger'

E.L.'s sister said her brother's untimely passing marked the end of a "great dream for himself and his loving wife and for his three beautiful and smart kids."

"I don't think what happened to him is OK," she wrote. "But forgiveness is not about condoning violence or renouncing justice. It is about setting yourself free from anger, so that it does not consume you."

Even the judge was moved: "I just found that absolutely remarkable that in the depths of her pain, she is able to see the broader picture."

Braun's network of supporters also spoke to their feelings of guilt at not having intervened at various points in a troubled childhood to steer the 21-year-old in a better direction.

"They point out to me his humanity, and that when he was not under the influence of his own perhaps inherited demons, he was an amazing — and is an amazing individual," Gordon wrote.

'No one to tell them what to do'

Braun's mother had five children by five different men. His father is a member of a Lytton First Nation who left Braun in the sole care of a mother who chose to feed her addiction instead of her children.

He dropped out of school in Grade 10 and lived on the street before connecting with the Ministry of Child and Family Development who gave him support as a youth.

But once he turned 18 and "aged out" of government care, Gordon says Braun was unsupported.

His situation echoed those of a number of tragedies that have seen foster children struggle to cope on their own after lives spent in care.

"He was simply not in receipt of any government assistance," Gordon wrote.

"There was no one to tell them what to do, and they began partying. Mr. Braun, to support that activity, committed criminal activity."

In the year-and-a-half between the attack and his arrest, Braun obtained his high school education and a forklift certificate. He pleaded guilty and the judge said he appeared genuinely contrite after speaking with E.L.'s family.

Manslaughter draws punishments ranging from a suspended sentence to life. But in sentencing Braun, Gordon concluded he should not do his time in a federal penitentiary.

"They are horrific places. They are filled with people who have made a life of criminality, and they are filled with drugs," she wrote.

After serving the 18 months remaining, Braun will have to spend two years on probation.