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By Canadian Press

Sentencing begins in Regina for youth in death of 16-year-old girl

Sep 18, 2017 | 8:15 PM

REGINA — A teenaged male who has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder says he was in the room when Skylar Prockner repeatedly stabbed 16-year-old Hannah Leflar for breaking up with him.

But the youth — who was 16 at the time and is 19 now — says he neither participated in the murder in January 2015, nor tried to stop it.

At his sentencing hearing, which got underway on Monday, the judge will determine if he will receive an adult or youth sentence.

Prockner, now 19, was 16 at the time but received an adult sentence of life with no parole for 10 years after being convicted of first-degree murder.

Prockner, wearing an orange prison jumpsuit and leg chains, took the stand Monday and testified the teen was one of several people he recruited to spy on Leflar.

He also said he “had eyes around the school” and testified he did not originally plan on killing Leflar, saying “I just wanted to hurt her.”

Prockner said he told the teen to bring a knife, and the teen brought a blade that had been a gift from Prockner to Leflar. However, he later added that the teen never used the knife.

The day he went to Leflar’s house to ambush her, Prockner testified he told the teen to wait in the truck but he came inside.

Prockner broke down in tears and there was sobbing in the gallery as he recounted how he killed Leflar.

Following the murder, Prockner testified he told the teen to smash Leflar’s cellphone, which he did, and instructed him to throw the knife into a dumpster, then go back to retrieve it, which he also did.

But under cross-examination, a defence lawyer pointed out that Prockner has testified in the past that the teen did not have a knife.

A young girl who was friends with the teen at the time of the murder testified he told her he was going to meet with Leflar the day she was killed. However, under cross-examination, she admitted her memory of that day and conversation has faded over the years.

Crown prosecutor Chris White is arguing for an adult sentence, saying the teenager’s “moral culpability is high.”

White says the prosecution will argue the boy “had a hand in attempting to lure Hannah” to the house, was involved in disposing of evidence and displayed “a callous attitude toward what had happened.”

Prockner is appealling over being sentenced as an adult.

(CTV Regina)

 

The Canadian Press

by Canadian Press