The young man who killed a fifty-year-old because he thought he was dealing with a werewolfunder the influence of magic mushrooms, in Sainte-Foy, escaped an adult prison sentence after being thoroughly lectured by the judge on Tuesday.
“Drugs are ‘dirty.’ Tarmin-é, tarminé. Do we get along well?” exclaimed Supreme Court Justice François Huot during the presentation of the verdict at the Quebec courthouse.
“You have a unique opportunity [de vous amender] offered today. Take advantage of it, because you won’t have the chance you have today again in the future,” the judge continued, looking the young man directly in the eyes.
Despite the seriousness of the crime, a submission report recommended that he be treated under the juvenile justice system due to the circumstances and the chances of rehabilitation. He was 17 years old at the time of the events.
The teenager who killed a fifty-year-old in Sainte-Foy in 2020 is now “aware” of the devastating effects of drugs and “wants to take responsibility,” according to his lawyer Me Jean-François Bertrand. Dominique Lelievre
The “cursed drug”
The young defendant, who is now 20 years old, thus escapes an adult sentence that could have brought him a long prison sentence. He pleaded guilty to involuntary manslaughter in May.
The judge gave him a two-year suspended sentence, during which he had to fulfill several conditions, including not taking drugs.
Therefore, he can leave the prison in a few days and must undergo six months of closed therapy to treat his addiction and impulsivity.
In May 2020, there was an argument between him and the victim in an apartment in Sainte-Foy. Twenty-eight wounds were found on the fifty-year-old’s body, resulting from 25 or 26 stab wounds.
“They stabbed him 28 times. For what? Because of the damn drug!” Judge Huot recalled vividly on Tuesday.
The teenager was in an “acute psychotic state” due to his voluntary consumption of several substances, particularly psilocybin (magic mushrooms), and suffered from “perceptual disturbances” that gave him the impression that the man in front of him was gradually transforming “like a werewolf.” . ”
“That’s illogical,” the man, whose identity is protected, admitted to the judge because he was a minor at the time.
Addicted to video games
On the witness stand, youth delegate and author of the subjugation report Stéphanie Guay reported that the defendant had already exhibited excessive behavior in his early childhood.
He was so addicted to video games that he missed classes at school. As a teenager, young people introduced him to cannabis and he realized he could make money selling drugs.
But since the events, he has gained “good insights” and also the support of his family, the specialist explained.
“You are the architect of your own misfortune. […] Your parents had warned you, warned you about the dangers of this poison [la drogue]», insisted Judge François Huot, warning the young man that one day he would return to court as an adult.
“Good luck!” concluded the judge.