Emotions run high as youth gets probation in deadly stabbing

Emotions ran high in a Chatham courtroom as the family of a Chatham teen killed in a violent encounter in October 2022 expressed frustration during a youth’s sentencing hearing Wednesday.

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The male youth, who was 17 when the teen was stabbed to death in a drug deal gone bad involving four teens on Oct. 21, 2022, was originally charged with second-degree murder. He pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of possessing a dangerous weapon on Jan. 25.

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The identities of all the youths involved are protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

On Wednesday, the youth, now 19, was sentenced to two years of probation after receiving credit for 344 real days of pre-sentence jail time.

The victim’s mother expressed frustration that her victim impact statement had been significantly redacted. Court heard impact statements from the victim’s grandmother and uncle also had been redacted, because they included statements that weren’t part of the court record.

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Ontario Justice Deborah Austin agreed to look at both versions of the impact statements. “I’m quite able to disabuse myself of anything I should not be considering,” she said.

The mother’s statement began by recalling when she learned of her son’s death: “It just didn’t hit me. I couldn’t put my mind there.”

She described her anguish at not being able to hug her dead son in his hospital bed, due to the police investigation. “I thought if I could hold him. . . I could bring him back,” she said

Her son was loving and sweet, she said, and the bright light that once shone from him is gone. He had empathy and did not like to resolve anything through anger and violence, she added.

She abruptly ended her impact statement, saying, “That’s it. Everything else is redacted.”

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Austin thanked the mother for her courage in expressing her loss to the court.

“I hate you,” the mother shot back.

The judge calmly acknowledged she knows “feelings run deep” in these situations.

The mother than told the parents of the convicted teen and said, “Your kid needs to pay.”

“This is a court and we have to be appropriate here,” Austin told her.

After the mother directed another comment at the teen’s parents, the judge warned she’d be removed if she continued her outbursts.

An agreed statement of facts, presented to the court Jan. 25 by assistant Crown attorney Melanie Nancekivell, noted after a drug exchange on Oct. 21, 2022, the accused confronted two male teens and a female teen before returning to a Richmond Street apartment where he was staying.

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A video from inside the apartment showed a male teen in a heavy coat kick in the door about 11 pm and hold a knife toward the accused, the Crown said.

The accused pulled a knife, the two males struggled and stabbed each other, court heard. Meanwhile, a female youth struck the accused several times with a golf club.

The two males and a female left their apartment, court heard. The male who kicked in the door died later of stab wounds to the chest at Chatham-Kent Health Alliance.

A joint Crown and defense sentencing submission called for the two years of probation and credit for time served.

The youth declined an offer by the judge to address the court.

Defense lawyer Frank Retar told court his client expressed “he wished this never occurred.”

A head injury suffered in a car crash when he was younger has affected the youth’s behavior since, the lawyer noted.

The youth has earned 20 credits since the incident to receive his high school diploma, he added.

The teen’s probation includes a 10-year weapons ban, a requirement to undergo counseling for anger management, substance abuse and psychological issues. He was also ordered to provide a sample to the DNA databank.

Relatives and friends of the deceased, wearing T-shirts calling for justice for the teen, said they are not done fighting the case.

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