Youth sentenced for fatally stabbing 14-year-old girl in downtown Winnipeg in 2023
'The only thing my family wants is justice for her murder,' victim's brother says
The brother of a 14-year-old girl stabbed to death in downtown Winnipeg last year described his sister as "a beautiful, young soul" who loved music and cherished her family and close friends, as the youth who pleaded guilty to her murder was sentenced on Monday.
"She didn't deserve any of this. The only thing my family wants is justice for her murder," the girl's brother told Court of King's Bench Justice Sarah Inness before playing a song he wrote for her during a sentencing hearing for the now 18-year-old who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the girl's death.
The girl's attacker was a week shy of his 18th birthday when he stabbed her repeatedly outside the Tim Hortons on Graham Avenue following an argument that spilled out onto the street on the afternoon of Dec. 15, 2023, court heard.
Neither the victim nor her attacker can be identified because the boy was a youth at the time of the killing.
Court heard the boy was holding a cup of coffee and a Slurpee and put both items down before pulling a 10-inch kitchen knife from his waist. He stabbed the girl several times and then ran from the scene. The offence was captured on multiple surveillance cameras and the video was played in court.
The girl later died in hospital, and her attacker was arrested days later. An autopsy found 11 stab wounds on the girl, including some on her lungs and other organs, court heard.
Court heard the boy told police he thought the 14-year-old had a gun, and said he was worried about the safety of his girlfriend who was one of the two other teens in the group they were with.
He was handed a sentence of three years in custody to be followed by four years of conditional community supervision. The maximum sentence for a youth is seven years, but only four of them can be in custody.
Court heard the now 18-year-old, who has been in custody since his arrest last year, lives with several mental health conditions and FASD and will be required to undergo extensive rehabilitative treatment as part of his sentence, which was jointly recommended by prosecutors and defence lawyers.
He was assessed as a high risk to reoffend, court heard.
