Huron County: Murder-charged boy, 13, appears in court in girl’s death

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By: Jane Sims

GODERICH, ONT. — A 13-year-old boy charged with murder in the death of a 12-year-old girl in Huron County will be back in court next week for an update in the case.

The youth, who was arrested earlier this week in Central Huron and charged with first-degree murder, made a brief court appearance by video in a Goderich courtroom Friday morning.

His defence lawyer, Robert Morris, adjourned the case to a July 11 youth court to allow time for him to meet with the Crown attorney and receive disclosure of more information.

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The next court appearance is expected to be as brief as Friday’s. There was no indication of a possible date for a bail hearing.

The boy, who appeared virtually from a youth detention facility, gave his name and birth date. He twisted back and forth in his chair during the brief hearing. He was remanded in custody.

Morris noted that the youth’s father and grandmother were in the courtroom.

The names and identities of the boy and girl are protected by court order and under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.

The 13-year-old was charged after Huron County OPP were called to a Cut Line Road address near Holmesville, a tiny community of 900 west of Clinton.

Police said at the time that they and other emergency personnel were called Tuesday to the area and found a person, who was transported to hospital and pronounced dead.

Sources have said the individual was a 12-year-old girl.

The police investigation focused on an area near the former Holmesville elementary school, which has been closed for several years. The school was surrounded by police tape while investigators were at the scene.

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According to area court observers, it’s difficult to point to any person in recent memory as young as him facing a charge of first-degree murder. The only famous case remotely related to this one occurred not far from the Holmesville crime scene, when 14-year-old Steven Truscott was charged with capital murder in the death of classmate Lynne Harper in 1959 at the Clinton airbase, now called Vanastra.

Truscott was acquitted in 2007 after years of controversy surrounding his hasty conviction at the same Goderich courthouse where the 13-year-old’s case will be tried.

Since then, “I couldn’t tell you when the last one was,” said London criminal defence lawyer Jim Dean, who represents many youthful offenders in the London area.

Truscott, who maintains his innocence, was sentenced to death and awaited that fate from a Goderich jail cell in the early days after his conviction. His case sparked widespread calls to end capital punishment and his sentence was commuted to life, before his ultimate acquittal.

Under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, that isn’t what the 13-year-old is facing.

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His identity and the identity of the victim is protected by the act and court order. Like any other accused, he can apply for bail. Because he is younger than 14, he cannot be sentenced as an adult. The maximum sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act for first-degree murder is 10 years, six in secure custody and four in the community supervision.

First-degree murder is considered to be a planned and deliberate killing and is usually tried in the Superior Court of Justice. Adults face life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years.

“If this is an intentional, planned murder by a 13 year-old, he’s going to get a murder sentence tailored not only for youth, but for very young youth,” said criminal defence lawyer Scott Cowan, who has taught the youth justice course at Western University.

“That is still a significant sentence for first-degree murder,” he said.

“It’s got to be pretty significant and major for a 13-year-old to even come through the system anymore because most of those go through community resource and diversion programs,” said Alan Leschied, a psychologist and Western University professor emeritus.

“It’s not the 12- or 13-year-olds aren’t doing stuff, it’s that they don’t go to court as much as they once did. A 13-year-old charged with a violent crime, first-degree murder, oh my gosh,” Leschied said.

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