Court listens to sentencing proposals for the teenage girl who admitted culpability in a lethal assault
Road's gonna be rough for that teen girl who copped a guilty plea for manslaughter over a deadly group attack on a homeless Toronto bloke named Kenneth Lee back in December 2022.
The dude got swarmed, and footage of the whole incident was captured on security cams. The girl in question was flingin' traffic cones and clocked Lee one good time. Unfortunately, Lee took a fatal blow to the heart and bled out, according to an autopsy report.
Now, this gal's got a sentencing hearing set for May 16. The Crown wants her to serve 15 months of probation, but her defense team's arguein' she didn't land the fatal blow. They're sayin' it's a total clusterfuck with the evidence, and it ain't clear who exactly stuck Kenneth Lee with the knife.
It's worth mentionin' that this gal was just 16 when the whole mess went down, and it went down in a downtown parkette. A paramedic testified that neither they nor Lee realized he'd been stabbed until he collapsed. Lee kicked the bucket on the operating table at St. Michael's hospital in the wee hours of Dec. 18, 2022.
Eight girls, aged between 13 and 16, were arrested after the incident and charged with second-degree murder. However, only six have copped to lesser charges so far - four to manslaughter, one to assault, and one to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm. It seems that the girl waitin' for her verdict tried to cop a plea for manslaughter, but the Crown ain't buying it.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published May 2, 2025.
Sonja Puzic and Paola Loriggio, The Canadian Press
[1] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/teen-toronto-manslaughter-knifing-1.6354998[2] https://globalnews.ca/news/9150610/toronto-teen-manslaughter-pre-trial-hearing/[3] https://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/teen-pleads-guilty-to-manslaughter-in-kenneth-lee-beating-death-1.6367765[4] https://torontosun.com/news/local-news/teen-guilty-in-toronto-mans-tragic-death[5] https://www.thestar.com/news/gta/2023/03/10/homeless-man-killed-in-alleged-swarming-in-toronto-park-police-say.html
- The video footage of the incident that led to Kenneth Lee's death was captured on security cameras.
- The teen girl who pleaded guilty for manslaughter tried to negotiate a lesser sentence during her sentencing hearing set for May 16.
- The crowns are arguing that the teen girl did not land the fatal blow that caused Kenneth Lee's death, but the evidence suggests it was a total mess with numerous girls involved.
- The girl who is still awaiting her verdict in the general-news category of crime-and-justice was among eight girls who were arrested and charged with second-degree murder in relation to Kenneth Lee's death, which occurred in a downtown parkette.
