A hearing got underway this morning in B.C. Supreme Court in New Westminster to determine if the accused in a fatal 2013 stabbing at the Tsawwassen First Nation should be held criminally responsible for his actions.
The accused, who was 17 at the time of the incident and cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, has admitted to the attack that left one teen dead and another critically injured.
The prosecutor told the court the Crown agrees that a finding of not criminally responsible due to a mental disorder is the correct ruling in the case.
The defense called a forensic psychiatrist and expert on the mental state of individuals at the time a crime is committed.
She interviewed the youth on five occasions last September and October and concluded the stabbing was a result of paranoid delusions, a symptom of the accused's schizophrenia. She said he also admitted that he hears voices and was hearing voices at the time of the attack.
The psychiatrist said the youth's mental illness also affects his ability to assess morality. He doesn't understand moral issues in the same way that other people do and he didn't see the stabbing as something that is morally wrong, which is consistent with schizophrenia.
She recommended the accused be detained in a hospital where he can receive treatment.
Police were called to a residence on Tsawwassen Drive at around 10 p.m. on Feb. 15, 2013. Upon arrival, officers discovered two teenaged girls suffering from stab wounds lying on the ground.
Both were treated at the scene before being airlifted to hospital. The 16-year-old victim succumbed to her injuries while the 15-year-old survived.
The suspect was taken into custody later the next morning.
The accused and the victims were known to each other.
