A hearing got underway yesterday 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 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 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 defense called a forensic psychiatrist and expert on the mental state of individuals at the time a crime is committed.
The psychiatrist interviewed the youth on five occasions last fall and concluded the stabbing was a result of paranoid delusions, a symptom of the accused's schizophrenia.
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.
The 16-year-old victim succumbed to her injuries while the 15-year-old survived.
The suspect was taken into custody the next morning.
The accused and the victims were known to each other.
