A 19-year-old who stabbed a teen in the chest, leaving him in need of care for the rest of his life, has been sentenced to six years in prison.
The victim’s mother told 麻豆传媒映画Provincial Court Judge Reginald Harris March 31 that her son and family had been handed a life sentence as a result of the Granville Street attack.
After the May 26, 2024 attack, the 15-year-old victim was resuscitated several times and suffered brain damage.
On June 26, the judge said the mother earlier told the court her child’s future had been ripped away, and the family “broken beyond repair.”
Ezekiel Ezekiel Okumu pleaded guilty to aggravated assault Oct. 16, 2024 before Harris, who heard sentencing submissions on March 28.
Harris said the victim, whose identity is protected under a publication ban, sustained “catastrophic, life-altering injuries from which (he) will never recover.”
Okumu swaggered into court on March 28 with his chin thrust out but slumped in his seat as videos of the attack were shown. When several of his friends entered court, he turned, smiled and saluted them.
He again swaggered into court for the June 26 sentencing, waving at the same friends.
Harris noted the behaviour in his decision, calling it an aggravating factor for sentencing.
“His in-court behaviour does not reflect true feelings of remorse,” Harris said.
Crown prosecutor Adrienne Lee was seeking five to seven years in prison while defence lawyer Trevor Martin suggested a sentence of three to three and a half years.
“This is a tragic case,” Lee told Harris during sentencing submissions. “We have a boy who is alive but his life is over.”
Before passing sentence, Harris said the victim was “as close to being dead as one can come.”
With credit for time in custody, Okumu has about 4.5 years left to serve.
What happened?
The court heard the victim and Okumu were among groups of teens who had gathered on the 800-block of Granville Street, with events all captured on video.
The Crown said there was nothing confrontational or aggressive seen on the video.
“(The victim) was no threat to Mr. Okumu,” Lee said.
While the victim was with several other youths, Okumu was standing back, observing and filming the scene with his phone.
Harris called the filming “senseless bravado.”
Okumu then moved in behind one youth near the victim.
“Okumu then lunges forward (and) stabs (the victim) in the chest with a knife held in his left hand,” Lee said.
The cellphone remained in Okumu’s right hand, filming events as they happened. The video presented to the court ends with an image of a gold knife.
The video wound up on social media.
Both Okumu and the victim then fled, the latter collapsing at the intersection of Howe and Smithe streets.
“He had suffered a penetrating wound to the chest,” said the Crown lawyer.
Okumu, who has a previous conviction for aggravated assault, was under a court order not to possess knives — an order he was found to have violated several times.
Mother forgave attacker
Wiping away tears March 28, the victim’s mother, who also cannot be identified, said her son was “brutally stabbed.”
“‘Ezekial, you are forgiven,’” Harris quoted the mother.
Now, she said, her son’s every need has to be cared for.
“I watch my child in a body that no longer responds,” she said. “He cannot move on his own and relies on others to feed him and change him.”
“Every day I see my son suffering,” she added. “He cannot express his fear, his pain or his wants.”
She said the situation has left her family “drowning financially.”
