Teen pleads guilty to lesser offence before Edmonton high schooler manslaughter trial

A jury trial has been called off for three teenage boys accused in a fatal stabbing outside an Edmonton school in 2022.

The youths were expected to be tried together this month, facing manslaughter charges in the death of a Grade 10 student.

But one of the boys pleaded guilty on Wednesday to the lesser offence of accessory after the fact to an assault with a weapon, according to a spokesperson for the Alberta Crown Prosecution Service.

Jury selection was scheduled Thursday for the remaining boys' trial, but defence lawyers on the case said they're proceeding to a judge-alone trial instead, beginning next week.

One of the teens was 14 and two were 16 when they were arrested — they're among seven youths in total who were charged in the case.

None of them can be identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. The name of the boy who was killed, as well as the name of the school he attended, are also covered by a court-ordered publication ban.

Four of seven youths plead guilty

Including the boy who entered a plea this week, four of the youths charged in the case have now pleaded guilty.

While each of the accused were initially charged with second-degree murder, all but one of them eventually saw the charge downgraded to manslaughter.

The only youth who continued to face a murder charge pleaded guilty to manslaughter recently. He was 14 at the time of the attack. He has yet to be sentenced.

Another teen, who was 15 when he was arrested, pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the spring. He was sentenced to eight months in jail, but his time in pretrial custody and house arrest reduced his remaining jail term to four months.

And in 2023, a woman who was 17 at the time of the stabbing pleaded guilty to accessory after the fact to an assault with a weapon. She was sentenced to one year of probation.

Besides the upcoming trial, one other boy's case is still before the courts.

His manslaughter trial began this year, but it was adjourned before proceedings finished, and is scheduled to continue in 2025.