Man who beat teen at Trenton, Ont., motel pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder

WARNING: This story includes graphic descriptions of violence.

A Trenton, Ont., man has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder for hitting a 17-year-old boy with a table leg so hard it shattered, then leaving the teen lying on a motel room floor where he was found dead four days later.

Aaron Ryan, 29, received a life sentence. He must serve 10 years before being eligible for parole.

Superior Court Justice Patrick Hurley described what happened as a "severe, prolonged and cowardly attack on a defenceless person," describing Ryan's conduct afterwards as "callous and despicable."

Five people were initially accused of first-degree murder following the teen's death. Four pleaded guilty to lesser charges. Only Ryan has been convicted of murder.

A publication ban prohibits reporting any information that could identify the victim.

Court heard that on Jan. 3, 2024, three men, including Ryan, were driven to a home on Dundas Street E. in Trenton, then walked to a nearby motel where the teen was living.

The men wore masks and gloves and told police they planned to "punch out" the 17-year-old and teach him a lesson, alleging he had recorded and shared a video showing him sexually assaulting a woman they all knew, according to the agreed statement of facts.

As soon as the teen opened the door, Ryan struck him with the table leg and the victim "immediately began to seize," dropping to the floor, read assistant Crown attorney Pardeep Bhachu.

During the attack, the table leg shattered, sending splinters of wood flying across the room, according to the statement.

Attackers did not call 911, left body behind

Court heard that after the teen fell, Ryan continued to kick him in the head, despite the other men telling him to stop.

They then stole the victim's backpack, coat, wallet and two phones, before locking the door behind them.

"They did not call for help or seek any medical attention ... they left him on the floor and his body was not discovered until January 7," said Bhachu.

The teen suffered several skull fractures. His cause of death was blunt force trauma to the head.

Bhachu described Ryan as a "vigilante" who brought the table leg with him from the trailer park where he was living.

The sentence was proposed by both the Crown and defence, but Bhachu said there is "no amount of time that will ever bring back [the victim]."

Still, she said, hopefully the guilty plea means "some form of a healing journey can start to the family and friends."

A slide show of photos showing the victim as a young boy played as eight victim impact statements were read out in court. The photos showed the victim flashing a child's smile complete with missing teeth, visiting a pumpkin patch and holding up a fish.

His adopted mother placed a portrait of him as a young boy on the stand as she spoke through tears.

"Aaron Ryan beat our child to death," she said, pointing out the accused was significantly larger and a decade older than her son.

"This was not an accident. This was the brutal killing of a child," she continued, adding the teen died alone.

"He did not get the comfort of loved ones holding his hands and whispering, 'I love you,' as he slipped away."

The woman said she lives in fear the others involved in the attack, or people they know, will seek to harm her family more. She told Ryan she hopes he leads a "sad and lonely life" when he gets out of prison.

The teen's birth mother also spoke, calling him the greatest joy she'd ever known.

She hoped they would reconnect when he turned 18, a belief she told court had helped her through hard times.

"He was so close to that milestone, just months away ... and I never got the chance to welcome him back into my life," she said, crying.

The murder has left her emotionally "shattered," she explained.

"No parent should ever have to bury their child. This is not the natural order of life," she said.

Murderer says he's 'haunted' by his actions

Defence lawyer Niclas Menzel said Ryan has been struggling with addiction since his teens.

He was in a relationship with the woman depicted in the video the victim allegedly recorded, his lawyer said. After the couple lost a baby to a late miscarriage, they were both devastated and began using drugs.

Around that time, the woman also began seeing other people, including the teen, Menzel said.

Ryan told the family he was "terribly sorry for his actions," adding he's "haunted every night and every day" by the murder and will live with the consequences for the rest of his life.

"He did not deserve to die," he said of the teen. "I'm sorry."

Justice Hurley said Ryan's guilty plea shows he's taking responsibility and shows remorse. He said whatever the teen's actions, they "in no way justified what Mr. Ryan did to him."

The 'soul of an old woodsman'

Among the other speakers at the sentencing were the teen's aunts, a nanny and his sister who said while he wasn't perfect, in her eyes he was the best person she knew.

She recalled calling her brother's phone more than 50 times after learning he'd died, desperate and unwilling to believe he was gone.

"You didn't just kill the person. You killed the life that could have been. The memories we never got to make," she said.

The teen's grandmother also spoke, describing days spent fishing or following animal tracks together.

He had the "soul of an old woodsman in a boy's body," she said.

"I believe his spirit is in the meadows in the forest with the sunshine following where the winds blow."