One of two girls set to go before a jury next month on charges of killing Ken Lee during a violent teen swarming has instead pleaded guilty to assault. Read More
She entered the surprise plea just weeks before facing a jury trial on charges of manslaughter in the homeless man’s 2022 swarming death
She entered the surprise plea just weeks before facing a jury trial on charges of manslaughter in the homeless man’s 2022 swarming death
One of two girls set to go before a jury next month on charges of killing Ken Lee during a violent teen swarming has instead pleaded guilty to assault.
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In a quiet voice in a downtown courtroom, the teen stood and told Superior Court Justice Phil Campbell, “I plead guilty to assault.”
The surprise plea by the girl, who can’t be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, leaves just one of the eight accused now facing a jury trial on charges of second-degree murder.
Four of the eight teens arrested in the senseless Dec. 18, 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.
A fifth pleaded to the lesser charge of manslaughter in February just as lawyers were scheduled to present closing arguments in their judge-alone murder trial before Campbell. She will be sentenced later this month.
The sixth girl, charged with second-degree murder and alleged by the Crown to be the actual stabber, is awaiting judgment by Campbell in May.
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In the agreed statement of fact on Friday, Crown attorney Sarah De Filippis described the girl’s lesser role in the swarming: she joined her friends at Yorkdale mall and the group of eight girls headed south on the subway, causing a commotion that got them kicked out of St. George station.
They reboarded without paying and at St. Andrews station, this teen and two friends assaulted two adult women without provocation, the prosecutor said, with the girl hitting the victim’s head and repeatedly pulling their hair. She and her friends then had to be restrained by the others from approaching them again.
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At about midnight, Lee and his girlfriend arrived at the parkette near University Ave. and Front St. where the girls had already converged. At the start of the swarming, this girl admitted throwing a bag at Lee’s friend and filming Lee’s bloody face while the others were yelling and spitting on him.
She then left the parkette and wasn’t present when Lee was fatally stabbed, the prosecutor said. She did return after the attack and flagged down an ambulance, De Filippis added.
Her sentence hearing is set for May 6.
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