Closing submissions resume in trial of teen girl accused of killing Kenneth Lee – Toronto

Prosecutors are resuming their closing submissions in the case of a teen girl accused of fatally stabbing a homeless Toronto man during a group attack.

The Crown began its submissions mid-February but could not continue until this week due to scheduling issues.

The girl, who was 14 at the time of the attack, is one of eight teens charged in the December 2022 death of Kenneth Lee, a 59-year-old man who was living in the city’s shelter system.

She has pleaded not guilty to second-degree murder and the Crown has rejected her attempt to plead guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter.

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Prosecutors argue the girl was the only one in the group who could have stabbed Lee twice during the three-minute-20-second swarming, which was captured on security video.

The defence, meanwhile, says it’s impossible to tell from the video who stabbed Lee and when, noting Lee himself didn’t seem to notice the injury at the time.

They maintain the girl wasn’t the one who dealt the lethal blow, and argue the Crown has fallen “far, far short of proof beyond a reasonable doubt” for second-degree murder.

Lee died in the early hours of Dec. 18, 2022, after undergoing emergency surgery at St. Michael’s Hospital, court has heard.

Police arrested eight girls between the ages of 13 and 16 in the hours that followed. All were charged with second-degree murder, but so far, five have pleaded guilty to lesser charges.

Last year, four girls pleaded guilty — three to manslaughter and one to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm.

A fifth girl who was initially part of the trial now underway entered a surprise guilty plea to manslaughter in February after the Crown said it had reassessed the strength of the evidence for second-degree murder in her case.

The two remaining teens are scheduled to face trial in May, one on a charge of second-degree murder and the other on a charge of manslaughter.