Judge confirms youth sentence for man convicted of 2019 group home murder

The ruling by Justice Michelle Fuerst confirmed the sentence of the young man who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2019.

Warning: This article contains disturbing details that may be triggering for some readers.

A now 21-year-old man who admitted to viciously stabbing and murdering a 15-year-old boy inside a Barrie group home in 2019 will remain in custody.

The ruling by Justice Michelle Fuerst confirmed the sentence of the young man who pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in 2022 and was later handed the maximum 10-year youth sentence.

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The young man, whose identity remains protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was a ward of the Crown after his parents could no longer care for him as he battled complex mental health and substance abuse issues.

While living in the South Barrie group home in early 2019, the court heard he attacked the boy while he was asleep in his bed, then chased the teen and continued stabbing him in his neck and chest with a kitchen knife as others in the home looked on in horror.

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The young man admitted to being angry with the teen, believing he ratted on him to their foster parent for removing knives from a locked room in the home.

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During his third annual review, the Crown read a report to the court highlighting that the young man had not been receiving proper mental health supports while in jail at Central North Correctional Centre. The young man has reported hearing voices in his head and having night terrors leading to a change in medication.

His lawyer Stephen De Wetter argued his client’s rehabilitation has been thwarted by a lack of mental health counseling at Central North and has called for him to be transferred to a facility where he can receive intensive mental health treatment and programming.

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Justice Fuerst called the lack of proper mental health programming at CNCC “unfortunate,” saying it has prevented the young man from receiving the treatment he needs to “successfully reintegrate into the community” in the future.

The young man will remain in custody for three more years followed by another four years in a community-based facility if his sentence is confirmed annually.