Killer of teen Darius Brown sentenced as a youth, gets 2 years in detention
The man who stabbed and killed Darius Brown in 2016 has been sentenced to two years in detention followed by 12 months under strict supervision — in addition to the 19 months the man served since police arrested him.
The man was 17 when he killed Brown. He pleaded guilty last November to manslaughter and it was debated whether he should be sentenced as a youth or adult.
Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, the onus is on the Crown to prove a minor should be given an adult sentence.
Prosecutor Mélanie Rose argued a youth sentence would not be appropriate for such a serious crime.
In the end, Judge Lucie Godin gave him the maximum youth sentence.
"The prosecution will examine the decision carefully and will decide if we will appeal it," Rose said Wednesday after the sentencing.
Brown's stepfather, Stephen Hennessy, said that the way the sentencing unfolded was "more about the accused" than having him face "the consequences of his actions."
"No court could give us the result that we would like — to have our son back," he said.
Mother Roxanne Brown said she didn't expect the justice system to ease the burden she feels since her son's death.
"Every day is a different experience. Some days, it's a lot of anger inside, misunderstanding, questioning," she said.
What happened that night
Video surveillance from the lobby of a building in Côte Saint-Luc shows what happened on the night Brown was killed in 2016.
Crown prosecutor Mélanie Rose read from an agreed statement of facts in court last November, saying that Brown asked to see a man's ring and then refused to give it back. Brown then asked for his watch.
A scuffle then broke out between the two as they moved toward the exit, and that's when the man's girlfriend intervened.
Brown then tried to take the man's girlfriend's phone.
"The accused took out a knife and stabbed Darius Brown in the upper neck at the base of the skull, inflicting the fatal wound," Rose told the court.
The girlfriend hit Brown in the face after he fell to the ground.
