Teen killer in botched Nuns' Island robbery avoids adult sentence
A teenager who pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter and conspiracy to commit robbery after the botched robbery of an acquaintance on Montreal's Nuns' Island in November 2018 has avoided being sentenced as an adult.
The Crown had originally sought an adult sentence for the young man, now 18, after he pleaded guilty last May.
In a hearing Monday, the Crown prosecutor told youth court Judge Jacky Roy that the Crown now agreed with the defence that a sentence served in youth detention would be more appropriate, based on the fact the perpetrator had requested help and counselling.
Roy sentenced the man to three years in youth detention.
False seduction, botched robbery
The young man and his girlfriend, both 17 at the time of the killing, hatched a plot to steal 30 grams of marijuana from the 17-year-old victim, a school acquaintance.
None of the teens can be identified because they were all minors at the time of the incident.
The plan was for the girl to pretend to seduce the victim and lead him to a secluded area in the woods, where her boyfriend was waiting in hiding.
When the girl arrived with the victim, her boyfriend grabbed him, and a struggle ensued. At some point, the boyfriend stabbed the victim in the thigh with a weapon that was never recovered.
The girl and her boyfriend fled the scene without seeking help. The victim bled to death. His body was found by a passerby the next morning.
The girl was sentenced to 30 months in youth detention last May.
Accused wants to be 'a better human being'
Tiago Murias, the lawyer for the young man sentenced Monday, told CBC the Crown dropped its request for an adult sentence after the young man expressed remorse and requested help, including one-on-one psychological counselling, animal therapy, and other support programs available to young offenders.
Murias said his client was relieved the judge agreed to drop the adult sentence.
"He's just looking forward to getting all the help that he can, going to school, making some personal progress and just being a better human being," Murias said.
Murias said the man briefly addressed the victim's family in court Monday, apologizing for the suffering he caused.
He said his client also wrote a longer letter that will be delivered to the victim's mother.
