Update: 1 of 2 accused in Hannah Leflar murder pleads guilty

Unable to hold back tears, the mother of Hannah Leflar broke down in court, as one of the teens accused in her daughter’s death admitted to murder.

The 16-year-old Thom Collegiate student was found in her north Regina home over a year ago.

Wearing a purple shirt, dress pants and glasses, the now 17-year-old boy who cannot be named, whispered guilty to one count of first-degree murder.

The teen will now get a psychological and psychiatric assessment before returning to court Oct. 24, 2016. That is when the Crown will argue for an adult sentence. 

“The Crown has to show that the accused is worthy of an adult sentence and that the youth system cannot possibly assess the issue or deal with him in a way that is of meaningful consequence,” Crown lawyer Chris White explained outside court. “In our view given the seriousness of the offence we don’t believe anything short of a life sentence is an appropriate disposition for this particular young person.”

The maximum sentence under the Youth Criminal Justice Act is 10 years, that is divided up to six years behind bars, with the remaining time to be served under community supervision.

As the young girl’s family left court, White confirmed they were holding up well, and took some comfort from the court proceedings.

“Every time they come to court they have to re-live what happened, they see the individuals in court and you can tell it is difficult on them,” White said. “They took something from this proceeding that they hadn’t taken in any other proceedings because the individual today, in having entered a guilty plea, in law he is a murderer.”

Leflar’s family will have to re-live everything in November as well. 

That is when the co-accused, another now 17-year-old, who cannot be named, begins his first-degree murder trial on November 14.

What happened to Leflar in that north Regina home won’t be known until the trial begins.