MANDEL: Remorseful teen in swarming of Ken Lee sentenced to 12 months probation

Article content

Let’s hope the remorseful teen really absorbed the moving words of a kind and compassionate judge.

In his thoughtful decision Thursday, Superior Court Justice Philip Campbell sentenced the seventh of eight girls involved in the vicious swarming death of Kenneth Lee to 12 months probation. She had pleaded guilty to manslaughter last month on the eve of her trial.

Campbell urged the teen to channel her remorse and nightmares over what happened to “a very good guy” into completing high school as well as reigniting her dreams of playing professional basketball and later working in social services to help other teens.

“There are a great many things in your life and about you that are very positive and offer great reason for optimism about you and your future,” the judge said.

But he cautioned that what she did that night will – and should – stay with her forever.

“You must want to put this case behind you, but I urge you not to forget and not to even try to forget this case and its meaning for you and others.”

Campbell found the teen, 14 at the time, was high on alcohol and marijuana and was one of the least responsible in the violent attack: she wasn’t armed, she’d earlier tried to calm her co-accused and only became involved in the final phase of the swarming when she mistakenly believed Lee had initiated an assault on her friend, when he was really trying to defend himself.

“You did not think it was likely Mr. Lee was going to die, or from what you saw, even possibly, was going to die, but you did know there was a risk, a real possibility, that he would get significantly hurt,” Campbell said.

“The other thing I know to be true is that your conduct was not the worst of the group who performed the attack,” he continued. “But in that final stage of the attack, which created a significant risk of harm to Mr. Lee, you did act with a high degree of anger and aggression.”

Of the eight accused, she’s spent the most time in custody – 354 days – which Campbell credited to 18 months. Part of that time was spent in the Marjorie Amos detention facility in Brampton, where she was accused of setting off a sprinkler in April 2023 that required the controversial transfer of her and two co-accused by plane to Kenora.

While the defence had asked for just six months probation, Campbell found she needed a year of support to help with her mental health and cannabis issues.

Now only one girl remains to be sentenced for the senseless crime that shocked our city just days before Christmas.

It all began when one of the teens grabbed a bottle of booze belonging to Lee’s friend at the parkette at the corner of Front St. and University Ave. When Lee stepped in to protect her, a shelter worker witnessed the girls descend on him like a “bunch of wolves on top of a piece of meat.”

Lee later died from a knife wound to his heart.

RECOMMENDED VIDEO

We apologize, but this video has failed to load.

Try refreshing your browser, or
tap here to see other videos from our team.

Play Video

Eight girls between the ages of 13 and 16, their names protected by the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were charged with second-degree murder.

Seven teens pleaded guilty to lesser charges – five to manslaughter, one to assault and one to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. The eighth girl, the alleged stabber, went to trial before Campbell and was found not guilty of second-degree murder but guilty of manslaughter. Her sentencing is set for next month.

“Nothing you and the other girls can do can return life to Mr. Lee. That is the nature of homicide. The accused will never lose what the victim has lost,” the judge concluded.

“But as you live your life, if you keep in mind the quiet, kind and gentle man who lost his own life, you can allow those events to be a touchstone for you and a reminder to you.”

And it seems there really is hope for her – and the rest of us – that she’s committed to change and working on her goals. Just before leaving the courtroom, the relieved teen made the unusual move of actually thanking the kind prosecutor on her case.

“And,” she told Crown Sarah De Filippis with a laugh, “I’ll be sure to send you a basketball ticket when I’m famous.”

mmandel@postmedia.com