2 plead guilty in killing of teen in Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough

Two youths accused of killing a 17-year-old in Montreal's Plateau-Mont-Royal borough in 2022 have pleaded guilty to manslaughter.

Both defendants were originally charged with second-degree murder in connection to the death of Amir Benayad.

Their names have not been released because they were minors at the time of the shooting.

Quebec Superior Court Justice Annie mond was scheduled to begin jury selection at the Montreal courthouse on Oct. 7, and the trial was expected to begin at Montreal's youth courthouse the nextday.

The defendants are expected to be evaluated before their sentencing hearings on Dec. 9 and 16, according to the Directeur des poursuites criminelles et pnales.

Benayad was shot in the chest on the evening of Jan. 13, 2022, near the intersection of Rivard and Roy streets. The incident occurred during a dispute between two groups of teenagers in a nearby alley.

The suspects immediately ran off. Benayad was taken to hospital, where he died of his injuries.

Montreal police first arrested a 17-year-old suspect in September 2022 in the MercierHochelagaMaisonneuve borough.

The RCMP and Montreal police extradited the second suspect from Peru in December 2022.

He was 18 years old by the time he was returned to Canada and arrested.