A fourth girl involved in the 2022 swarming death of a 59-year-old man in Toronto’s downtown core pled guilty on Monday.
The girl, who was 14 years old at the time, is the third accused in the case to plead guilty to manslaughter.
Two other girls have also pled guilty to manslaughter and another has pled guilty to assault causing bodily harm and assault with a weapon. They were all 13 years old at the time of the incident.
On June 19, another girl accused in the case, who was also 14 at the time, pled not guilty and will stand trial for second degree murder.
Five of the eight teenage girls accused have now entered their pleas. Three of the girls were 13 years old at the time of the attack, three others were 14 and two were 16. They were all initially charged with second-degree murder in Lee’s death.
Police said the teen girls met on social media and assembled in downtown Toronto, where they were first involved in another criminal but “non-assaultive” incident.
A relative described Lee as a “kind soul with a heart of gold.” Community members have said the man from Hong Kong was trying to defend a friend before the attack.
Lee’s family has said he was in the homeless shelter system after falling on tough times but was making an effort to get his life back on track.
“… Ken was a kind soul with a heart of gold. He was not in the system due to alcohol or drug abuse,” read a statement from Lee’s family. “He was a man with pride who had fallen and wanted to learn to stand up on his own, knowing that he always had his family behind him.”
The accused have not been identified under the Youth Criminal Justice Act (YCJA) provisions because they are all under 18. The YCJA states that the fact that youth are still maturing must be accounted for in the prosecution of crimes. It also emphasizes rehabilitation and reintegration into society.
With files from The Canadian Press
