Teen accused in killing gets probation for tampering with monitoring device

The teenager accused of killing Chelsie Probert has been sentenced to three months of probation for cutting off his electronic monitoring bracelet and slipping away from his mother's Dartmouth home earlier this month.

The teen, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was on house arrest while he awaits a verdict in the murder case.

On Friday morning in Nova Scotia Youth Court, he pleaded guilty to a charge of mischief for cutting off the bracelet and also pleaded guilty to breaching the conditions of his house arrest. Three other breach charges were withdrawn by the Crown.

Probert was stabbed to death on a path in north-end Dartmouth in June 2017.

At the teenager's trial last month, the Crown described Probert's killing as a botched robbery attempt. At the time of her death, police said it was a random act.

The teen has been living with his mother on strict conditions since he was released from jail last fall.

Slipped out bedroom window

In court Friday, lawyers told Judge Barbara Beach that the teen slipped out the bedroom window of his mother's ground-floor apartment sometime before 2:30 a.m. on Nov. 4.

The lawyers were able to pin down the time because it was at 2:30 a.m. that the company monitoring the electronic bracelet received a signal indicating tampering with the device.

Police were dispatched. They arrived at the apartment just before 3 a.m.

The boy's mother checked on her son only to discover he had escaped.

Police searched the apartment and the surrounding area. The bracelet was discovered under some bushes a short distance away.

The boy took his mother's cellphone, which he'd been using to keep in touch with the electronic monitoring company. But after he left his mother's apartment, he removed the SIM card from the phone, meaning it could only be used for texting when it was within reach of Wi-Fi.

Reached via social media

The boy's mother testified that she couldn't call her son while he was on the run, but she was able to get in contact through text messages on the social media app Snapchat.

Through Snapchat conversations, the teen was persuaded to turn himself in. He and his mother showed up at Halifax Regional Police headquarters at 8:24 pm on Nov. 5, some 42 hours after he disappeared.

The teen apologized for his actions in court Friday.

"At the time, my state of mind wasn't very good," he said, adding that he'd been struggling with depression, anxiety and suicidal thoughts. He said it was only by talking to people on social media that he was persuaded not to kill himself.

The Crown is opposed to the teenager being released on bail again.

Beach was not prepared to make a hasty decision. She sent the teen back to the Waterville youth jail in the Annapolis Valley where he's already spent 12 days since he surrendered to police.

Beach was the judge who originally granted the bail and she made it clear she took the teen's breach seriously.

"He didn't go out and grab a piece of pizza and come home," the judge said. "This was a deliberate absconding."

Judge challenges defence lawyers

Beach also challenged defence lawyers on their arguments that his actions were driven by trauma.

"There's no evidence before me in this case of any trauma," she said.

She also challenged why, if he was in such distress, those people around him hadn't sought help before he ran away.

Beach will give her decision on bail on Nov. 26. The teen will remain in custody in the meantime.

The teen started sobbing as he was led out of the courtroom. His mother called after him, "I love you."

Judge Elizabeth Buckle, who conducted the murder trial, will hand down her verdict on Jan. 18.