A male who was 17 when he participated in the killing of La Ronge business owner Simon Grant has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
The teen was originally charged with second-degree murder. The plea was entered Monday in La Ronge Provincial Court.
He is the third of four suspects charged in the killing to have entered guilty pleas to lesser charges in recent months.
After entering the guilty plea of manslaughter, the 17-year-old appeared to show no emotion and did not offer an apology to the Grant family, who was in court.
“That just sort of speaks volumes to the type of individual we’re dealing with, and I think to the courts as well, speaks to maybe the level of remorse,” said Grant’s widow, Cora Laich.
The Crown is seeking an adult sentence. A pre-sentence report, as well as psychological and psychiatric reports have been ordered for the 17-year-old.
Laich says being in court on Monday was especially difficult for her.
“There was just a lot of recollecting of the events that happened to Simon on the night he was attacked,” said Grant’s widow, Cora Laich. “Just a lot of memories come back, just because of a personal connection with this young man.”
A 14-year-old male entered a guilty plea last month in relation to the April assault of the victim in Grant’s La Ronge restaurant. That teen, who also can’t be named, had originally been charged with second-degree murder, but entered a plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter. He is to appear in court again next month.
In October, a 19-year-old man who pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the case was handed a seven-year prison sentence.
In November, a charge of being an accessory after the fact to murder laid against an 18-year-old suspect was stayed.
The 17-year-old is scheduled to appear in La Ronge Provincial Court via video on March 8.
(PHOTO: La Ronge Provincial Court. Photo courtesy of MBC News.)