One of the two girls on trial in the death of a homeless Toronto man pleaded guilty to manslaughter Tuesday after prosecutors said they had reassessed the strength of the evidence for second-degree murder in her case.
The girl, who was 16 at the time of the incident, entered her plea through her counsel as lawyers were expected to begin their closing submissions.
Submissions are expected to proceed for her co-accused, who was 14 at the time. That girl also tried to plead guilty to manslaughter at the start of the trial but her plea was rejected by the Crown.
Prosecutors have alleged the younger girl was the one who fatally stabbed Kenneth Lee in December 2022.
Court has heard Lee, 59, died in the early hours of Dec. 18, 2022, after he was swarmed by a group and stabbed in a downtown Toronto parkette.
The judge-alone trial, which started roughly two weeks ago, has pored over security footage from the parkette and other locations the group attended before and after the incident.
In a video shown in court, the girl who pleaded guilty Tuesday can be seen throwing a traffic cone at Lee and then hitting him with one as he tries to fend off blows from several others.
Eight girls were charged in the hours after Lee’s death.
Three girls pleaded guilty last year to manslaughter in the case and one to assault with a weapon and assault causing bodily harm, and a jury trial is scheduled in May for the remaining two girls.
