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Medicine Hat girl to be sentenced for murdering family
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by Ray Keating | November 8, 2007 at 07:07 am
2941 views | 15 Recommendations | 6 comments
This is one of those stories that can't help but stir up a host of emotions. On one hand I am angry that this girl will face a relative slap on the wrist sentence today. On the other I am saddened by the fact that the terrible actions of a 12 year old can ruin so many lives, not the least of which is her own.
Underneath it all though, we need to examine the way we deal with youth who commit such awful crimes. There needs to be a distinction in the Youth Criminal Justice Act between the way a child convicted of theft is treated and the way a child convicted of murder is dealt with. I can't advocate sending any child to an adult prison, but I think that penalties need to be reviewed. This girl will leave the prison system in some years time and will not even have to face the prospect of the whole country knowing what she did. The public is owed that at least. How can we protect ourselves from someone like this if we have no idea who they are?
A 14-year-old Alberta girl found guilty of murdering her family is expected to be sentenced Thursday.Labelled as Canada's youngest convicted killer, the teenager was found guilty in July on three counts of first-degree murder for killing her mother, father and eight-year-old brother in their Medicine Hat home on April 22, 2006. She was just 12 at the time.
She faces a maximum sentence of 10 years in prison but is expected to spend some of the time in a psychiatric hospital.
The lawyer for the girl, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, is arguing for a sentence of three years incarceration, with most of that being at the psychiatric hospital. The lawyer is suggesting she would be credited 1.5 times for the 18 months already served rather than the one-for-one credit advocated by the Crown.
The Crown prosecutor is asking for a significantly longer incarceration time, arguing that the girl's pre-sentencing reports show she has an oppositional defiance disorder and conduct disorder.
"The young person does not recognize that she has committed a crime, nor does she have any insight into her condition," said prosecutor Stephanie Cleary.
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The girl's ex-boyfriend, who is also accused in the killings, will also be in the Medicine Hat court on Thursday. He will be applying to have his trial moved to a venue in a larger city such as Calgary.
Jeremy Steinke, 24, faces three charges of first-degree murder.
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at 07:41 on November 8th, 2007
Good stuff, Ray. You're right, it's not long for a triple homicide. According to the Justice Department of Canada, murderers get an average of 28.4 years in jail. (http://www.justice.gc.ca/en/news/nr/2005/doc_31690.html)
She definitely sounds like a sociopath. Maybe the judge should have committed her to a psychiatric facility for an indeterminate period instead of setting a release date. I don't know what her home life was like, but showing no remorse for killing your whole family is not the kind of person I want walking around anonymously.
at 07:49 on November 8th, 2007
Yeah this was such an unbelievable story...who arranges to have their family killed at age 12?
at 16:25 on October 22nd, 2008
I felt so sad for the little brother ... how he begged for her not to kill him.
Such a sad story ... if i was a judge it would've been the death penalty or life sentence.
at 12:37 on October 27th, 2008
My question is, "Who at 23 years of age has a 12 year old girlfriend?! Who at 23 gets angry at parents who oppose the relationship (what parents wouldn't?!) and who kills the girl's parents enlisting the help of their daughter? The girl helped attack the brother, but the killings were done by the so called boyfriend. The girl would have been in absolute shock at the sight of these killings, no matter who or what she is. She needs psychiatric help, and all attempts need to be made to rehabilitate her. Only if this fails should anyone be worried when she is released. I'd be more worried about the 23 year old male.
at 08:20 on January 27th, 2009
jasmine richardson is a fucking little cunt that should go die and that steinke oh if he comes back to medicine hat after he's out hes fucking dead and if i go to jail i will find that stupid richardson bitch and i 'll kill her and it will all be over so fuck her and who ever likes her i love her but shes is fucked in the head to kill her own family like what the fuck all you fucking ugly ass emos and goth fuckers who like her you diserver to fucking rot in a fucking cell to because your just as sick minded as she is
at 08:28 on January 27th, 2009
if steinkes mom sees this your fucking son is dead he's going to get his throught slit and if you gave birth to some thing like that you should go crawl in a hole and die because your not helping the world at all and to those of you that could have told the cops about their plan you are all a part of that mess to so fuck you guys to i still love jasmine but what she did was wrong and when she gets out i will give her a good beating and ask her what the fuck happend to my sweet little friend and for that little next door neighbours boy to have to find 3 dead bodies of his friend and his parents is just wrong .