A teenager from Nasonworth, near Fredericton, has been sentenced to 3.5 years in a community-based rehabilitation and supervision program, for the second-degree murder of his step-father last year.The young offender, who was 17-years-old at the time, and cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty to the charge in August, and was in court in Burton on Monday for the sentencing hearing.The 34-year-old victim died from multiple stab wounds to the head, neck, back and face, in the family home in Nasonworth on May 13, 2024. He had been in the youth’s life since he was 2 years old. Justice Richard Petrie followed a joint recommendation from the Crown and defence to allow the teen to serve his sentence under an Intensive Rehabilitative Custody and Supervision (IRCS) Program for youth with mental health needs who are convicted of a serious violent offence.The youth has already served 18 months at the Miramichi Youth Campus juvenile detention centre since his arrest, and will serve two more days at the facility before his community placement begins later this week. Impact on familyIn a victim impact statement read in court by Crown prosecutor Christopher Lavigne, the victim’s mother described missing her son on a daily basis, and the chats they would have 3 or 4 times a week. Life is like a dark tunnel, she said, when you don’t see the light.“I wish I could wake you up and see you standing there, that I will wake up from this nightmare,” the statement said. “You became my best friend, my confidant.”Due to the stress, she said her husband has since suffered a stroke, she has had her lungs collapse four times. She suspects stress to be a contributing factor to their overall decline in health.She said she is afraid when the youth is released he will return to using drugs, possibly leading to another psychosis. She said she is now “living in fear that he could do this same thing again.”The youth’s mother and sister declined to submit a victim impact statement. My son just stabbed me- Neighbour of victim and youthThe court heard how the youth’s mother left the house around 10:40 a.m. on May 13, 2024 for a medical appointment, leaving her son and partner alone in the house. She called 10 minutes later and reported “everything seemed fine.” The victim’s mother also called moments later and they spoke for a few minutes.But around 11:00 a.m. neighbours reported hearing a commotion coming from the house, and someone yelling “help.”One neighbour arrived to find the victim covered in blood saying “I can’t breathe” and “my son stabbed me.” Another neighbour across the street called 911. She told the dispatcher that her neighbour was rolling around covered in blood, and that the victim had possibly been stabbed in the face and chest.RCMP arrived to find the victim laying on the ground soaked in blood from head to toe, with a very faint pulse and several lacerations. He died at the scene. The youth was arrested a short time later, while walking along Philips Road. When told to take his hands out of his pockets, the youth replied “I have blood on my hands.”Mental health and drug useAccording to the agreed statement of facts, the young offender was using multiple illicit drugs in the months leading up to the attack, including cannabis and methamphetamine.He also told officers that he “smokes weed” and does opioids, and likes “techs, pain relievers, codeine, and also oxy.”His family reported a significant decline in his personality and behaviour prior to the attack, and that “he had completely changed.” The youth was also forcibly hospitalized for a 2 week period in February 2024 for “mental disruption.” During his detention at the Miramichi Youth Campus, he was witnessed talking to himself, and to a bug, and was prescribed multiple psychotic medications.Following a 30-day fitness assessment in June 2024, the youth was found fit to stand trial. A joint recommendationCrown prosecutor Christopher Lavigne said the joint recommendation promotes rehabilitation and reintegration, and noted various factors come into play, including drug use, mental health matters and reduced level of maturity. He said the Youth Criminal Justice Act recognizes the “diminished moral blameworthiness” for youth, noting that an adult sentence “would be a vastly different scenario.”“Here the sentence is entirely rehabilitative in nature,” he said. Defence lawyer, T.J. Burke, said his client has no criminal history, and that he has expressed regret and remorse over what happened. He also entered a guilty plea, saving court time and sparing witnesses from testifying. Defence lawyer, T.J. Burke, says his client has expressed remorse and has made significant improvements since his time in custody. (Allyson McCormack/CBC)He said there has also been a significant improvement since his time in custody, and he’s receiving good grades and is close to getting his diploma. Burke added that the youth has goals of working in the construction industry, is willing to undergo counselling, and stay away from his former negative peer group. He said the public might not appreciate that this is sufficient for these types of offences, but noted, “either way, there’s no winners and losers in this process.” It’s not too late to change who you were…- Justice Richard PetrieJustice Petrie said “it was a brutal, violent crime” and that it was a nightmare with devastating consequences for the entire family. He said he wants the family to know he is fully aware of the senseless and horrific matter, and that no sentence could possibly account for the pain, suffering and loss.Justice Petrie said the public might perceive the joint recommendation as going too lightly on the youth, but said the total combined sentence cannot exceed 7 years. “This is a decision of parliament, not the court,” he said.The youth’s overall sentence in this case is just shy of 6 years, including remand credit of 1.5 days for time already served, which works out to 27.3 months. Justice Petrie also imposed a no contact order for the youth’s mother and sister, as well as the victim’s family, who have made clear that they want no contact with him.The youth is also ordered to abstain from using drugs or alcohol, and is banned from owning a firearm for 20 years. He will also have to provide a DNA sample for the criminal database. Justice Petrie also addressed the youth directly, and told him there is a lot of work ahead of him. “It’s not an ending, this is a beginning of sorts,” he said. “It’s not too late to change who you were on May 13, 2024.”He said the final decisions and outcome are in his hands, and wished him good luck.
Nasonworth teen released to rehabilitation program for killing his stepfather
