Man, 18, handed max youth sentence for 2nd-degree murder in Point Douglas killings
CBC
WARNING: This story contains graphic details.
A man has been sentenced to seven years in prison for killing two people in a 2022 murder spree, when he was 15 years old. A Manitoba judge rejected a request from Crown prosecutors for him to face life in prison.
The now 18-year-old man pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder in the deaths of Dawn Ballantyne, 36, and Marvin William Felix, a 54-year-old amputee who used a wheelchair.
The man and his co-accused, who was also 15 years old at the time, attacked Ballantyne and Felix on Aug. 22, 2022. The assaults happened within the span of an hour in the Point Douglas neighbourhood, a couple blocks from each other.
A judge stayed a manslaughter charge against the man in the death of Troy Baguley, 51 — who was also critically injured in the attacks the same morning.
Crown prosecutors recommended an adult sentence for the man and his co-accused, which would mean an automatic sentence of life in prison for the second-degree murder charges.
The man's co-accused was handed an adult sentence in October, but Court of King's Bench sentencing Justice Sarah Inness rejected the application for the other teen at a hearing on Thursday.
"I have to come to the decision in this case, despite significant unease," Inness told the court.
"My discomfort stems not from any doubts … but from strong concerns that [the man] will not be rehabilitated within the length of the sentence."
The man can't be named due to provisions under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
Ballantyne was found badly injured on a blood-soaked carpet in the hallway of a Jarvis Avenue building. Injuries to her head exposed her skin and bone, while she also had foot impressions on her back, Inness told court.
Felix was attacked while he was sleeping in his wheelchair. Security video shows both youths involved in the assault kicking and stomping all over his body, Inness said.
Based on the evidence presented in court, Inness said the teen's behavior was "out of control," but he was not living and acting in a manner consistent with a functioning adult.
Rather, he was a "child surviving on the streets in difficult circumstances with the help of others," she said.
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