TORONTO — Legal professionals started what are anticipated to be a number of days of authorized arguments on Monday within the case of 4 women scheduled to face trial this 12 months over their alleged function in a lethal group assault on a homeless man in Toronto.
The kids are a part of a bunch police allege swarmed and stabbed Kenneth Lee, a 59-year-old man who was residing within the metropolis’s shelter system, in December 2022.
Eight women between the ages of 13 and 16 have been arrested within the hours after Lee’s dying.
All of them have been charged with second-degree homicide, and 4 have since pleaded responsible to lesser charges of manslaughter or assault.
A judge-only trial is scheduled this month for 2 of the remaining women on charges of second-degree homicide.
The opposite two are set to be tried by a choose and jury in Might, one for second-degree homicide and the opposite for manslaughter.
All 4 of the ladies headed to trial have been initially presupposed to have their case determined by a jury, however two of them lately switched to a judge-alone trial after the Crown and choose agreed to a request from their legal professionals.
The instances have been {split} into two trials as a consequence of scheduling points.
Not one of the accused might be recognized as a result of they’re underage.
Not one of the proof or arguments introduced at this week’s hearings might be disclosed as a consequence of a publication ban. Submissions are anticipated to proceed all week.
This report by The Canadian Press was first printed Jan. 13, 2025.
The Canadian Press
