MANDEL: Girl on trial for murder in swarming pleads guilty to manslaughter
The girl, 16 at the time, admits being involved in the last 23 seconds of the 3-minute-and-20-second assault on Kenneth Lee
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And then there were five.
In a surprise move, prosecutors have admitted they don’t have the evidence to prove second-degree murder and instead accepted another plea to manslaughter in the vicious and senseless swarming death of Kenneth Lee.
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MANDEL: Girl on trial for murder in swarming pleads guilty to manslaughter Back to video
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The girl’s plea Tuesday morning came just as lawyers for her co-accused and herself were scheduled to present closing arguments in their judge-alone murder trial before Superior Court Justice Phil Campbell. Four of the eight teens arrested in the 2022 killing of the homeless man have already pleaded guilty in youth court — three to manslaughter and one to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. All were placed on probation.
The fifth to join them in pleading guilty was 16 at the time of the shocking swarming of the helpless homeless man on Dec. 18, 2022. According to the agreed statement of facts read into court Tuesday morning by Crown attorney Mary Humphrey, the teen — who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act — admitted she was a “joint participant” in a group assault that resulted in Lee’s death.
She had met up with the seven girls at Yorkdale TTC station and was seen trying to stop members of the group from assaulting strangers as they headed downtown to Union Station, the statement said.
At the parkette at 1 University Ave., she admits being involved in the last 23 seconds of the three-minute-and-20-second assault on Lee, 59. “At no time during her involvement in the final wave of the attack did she have intent to kill Kenneth Lee.”
She had no weapon and had been consuming Crown Royal and marijuana, the court heard.
During the attack, one of the teens hit Lee multiple times with a bag of ice and — likely assuming it was this girl in front of him — he picked it up off the ground and hit her back with it. He was then “severely beaten” from multiple angles by members of the group even as he lay disoriented on the ground with his face bloodied.
“During this final wave of the attack, (she) picked up a pylon and walked towards Mr. Lee, who was pinned against the retaining wall by members of the group attacking him. She raised the pylon over her head and hit Mr. Lee with the orange construction pylon three times,” the statement states.
Lee, who wasn’t initially aware that he’d been stabbed, died later in hospital from a wound to his heart that caused internal bleeding. He’d also suffered 19 blunt force injuries from the beating.
The girl’s co-accused before the judge-alone trial is alleged to be the stabber, who was 14 at the time. Her attempt to plead to manslaughter at the start of the hearing was rejected by the Crown.
In his closing argument, the girl’s lawyer Boris Bytensky insisted she wasn’t guilty of second-degree murder.
“She was not the stabber. She was not the person who inflicted the fatal wound in Mr. Lee.”
He did admit that she “might be” the person who was responsible for the shallower, non-fatal stab wound to Lee’s armpit but she had no intent to kill him.
Bytensky told the court that there is no sign of a knife on the many security videos from that night and an item seen falling out of her pocket was a Sharpie that was later seized by Toronto Police when she and the other seven girls were arrested at Sick Kids while waiting for a male friend being treated for an accidental wound.
The lawyer denied the male teen had also been injured by a knife and suggested it could have been by some sharp object at Union Station, which was under construction at the time. He also wondered why he was never called by the Crown as a witness.
“We know so little,” the defence lawyer argued.
His closing submission continues Wednesday and then the Crown will present its final argument.
A jury trial is set for May for the remaining two girls — one is charged with second-degree murder and the second with manslaughter.
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