Teen pleads guilty to 2nd-degree murder of Hamilton student Devan Selvey

A teenager charged with second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of14-year-old Devan Selveybehind a Hamilton high schoolpleaded guilty in a surprise move Monday afternoon.

The trial for the teen,who can't be identified under a court-ordered publication ban,was expected to start this week before a jury.

Butduring a court appearance that began at 2 p.m. ET, the accused re-elected to be tried before a judge alone and then made his plea.

"Guilty," he said.

Devan was stabbed to death outside Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School on Oct. 7, 2019.

The accused, who was also 14 at the time, has been in custody since that day. He's now 16.

"Our thoughts today are with Devan Selvey," said Crown attorneys Brett Moodie and Lisa Ellins in a statement.

"We want to express our condolences to the Selvey-Bracci families and others affected by this tragedy.We're thankful that justice is being served today."

Members of Devan's family were in court for the plea. His mother, Shari-Ann Selvey, could be heard sobbingduring the court appearance. The familyleft the courthouse without speaking to reporters.

Defence lawyer John Rosen declined to comment until after sentencing is completed.

An agreed statement of facts read in court Monday said the accused stabbed Devan once in the right, upper back.

"Devan did not see or hear" the accused as he came up from behind, Moodieread from the facts.

He was stabbed with a knife with a 15-centimetreblade, which cut through muscle and bone before slicing into his lung and severing his pulmonary artery, causing rapid blood loss, court heard.

The 14-year-old ran roughly 30 metres before collapsing.

Devan was rushed to Hamilton General Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.

Court was shown a picture of a small, purple pocket knife Devan had with him, but was not holding, at the time of the stabbing. In the photo, thefolded up blade was shown next to an evidence marker and surrounded by dried blood.

Teens were 'strangers'

Before the day of the stabbing, the two teens were "strangers" who did not know each other, according to the agreed upon facts.

On Sept. 4, 2019, just over a monthbefore he was killed, Devan's bike was stolen near the school property.

Court was told that neitherthe accused nor any of his siblingswere involved in the bike theft oreven knew it had happened.

On the day of the stabbing, Devanand a friend saw a group of teens hanging out near an arena across the road from the high school, including someone hethought had taken his bike, court was told.

He texted his sisterand then the parentsof a friend who arrived at the school shortly afterwards. One of the adultsdecided to confront the teens, the facts of the case state.

Bear mace incident preceded stabbing

When an argument broke out, the older brother of the accused used bear mace, sendingeveryone running from the area.

The accused's older brother, who was 18 at the time of the stabbing, was previously sentenced to 15 months of probation on a suspended sentence after he pleaded guilty tothe unauthorized possession of a weaponin the summer of 2020.The court heardhe was carrying brass knuckles the day Selvey was killed. His conviction was not directly linked to the homicide.

After the bear mace was sprayed, Devan chased after a group of teens, withhis mother driving alongside him, asking for him to climb inside.

Another teen pulled out an extendable baton and told Devan to back off, according to the agreed upon facts.

The accused ran to catch up with the others, moving so fast at one point that he "came out of his shoes," court heard.

As Devan argued with a female member of the group, the accused approached and heard yelling. The statement of facts says he believed his brother could be in trouble, so he drew the knife from his waistband and stabbed Devan from behind, just as his mother got out of her vehicle.

Much of the incident was captured on security cameras.

The accused fled with his brother, but was followed by a bus driver with DARTS adoor-to-door transportation service who saw the stabbing and followed the pairfor several blocks. That driverled police to find them, and the brothers were arrested in a nearby yard.

As part of the agreed statement of facts, the accused admits his conduct was "unreasonable" and that when he stabbed Devan, he did so intending to cause serious harmhe knew was "likely to cause death."

Family members in court

Devan's death prompted theHamilton-Wentworth District School Boardto assemble a report onbullying, which showed it was a problem across schools in the public board, anda "culture of fear" was preventing people from reporting incidents or taking action.

Devan'sfather, Edward Bracci,was also in court Tuesday. Asupporter hugged the teen's mom as the plea was read out.

Also present werethe accused's family members, whocould be heard crying at points.

Court is scheduled to meet again on Dec. 17 to select a date for sentencing.

A series of reports and assessments of the accused are expectedto beprepared in the meantime.

Justice Andrew Goodman said he intends to set aside a full day to hear victim impact statements.