Two teenagers who participated in a deadly swarming attack on an Edmonton student have been found guilty of manslaughter.
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Court of King’s Bench Justice Peter Michalyshyn on Monday convicted DP and SG of manslaughter for their roles in the death of the victim, who died of stab wounds during a five-on-one attack outside a high school in 2022.
Michalyshyn found the two accused, whose names cannot be published under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, were “in no way bystanders or observers” in the violence.
He stopped short, however, of finding DP and SG planned any sort of attack.
“I find there was little evidence that implicates (either accused) in a plan any sooner than they arrived at (the high school),” the judge said.
Michalyshyn found DP — who was caught on video carrying a field hockey stick — struck the victim at least once. SG did not have an obvious weapon but was found to have participated in the swarm.
The convictions come days after another of the participants — who was convicted of manslaughter after admitting to stabbing the victim in the back — was sentenced to 18 months in jail followed by 18 months of “intensive” supervision. The judge in that case heard the violence was part of an escalating cycle of violence between “two opposing groups” who would randomly attack lone members of the other side.
Seven youth were initially charged with second-degree murder, though charges were later downgraded to manslaughter in all but one of the cases. With Monday’s decision, only one of the cases remains before the courts.
A stab wound to the victim’s heart has yet to be linked to any of the accused.
DP and SG are next in court Jan. 31 to set a date for sentencing, which Michalyshyn said could take place in summer or fall.
Both the identity of the victim and the name of the school where the attack happened are under a publication ban.
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