A girl has pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the July death of a six-week-old baby in Saskatoon.
The 16-year-old youth entered the guilty plea during a court appearance Tuesday morning.
READ MORE: Court appearance for teen accused of a killing 6-week-old boy in Saskatoon
After the plea, a group gathered outside of the courthouse to rally for the accused to be sentenced as an adult.
The baby’s grandfather, Jeffery Longman, spoke on behalf of the group.
“All I want is for her to be sentenced as an adult. Sixteen years old, you should know better,” Longman said.
“He had no voice to speak so I’m his voice. Let there be justice for my grandson.”
Nikosis Jace Cantre died in hospital on July 3, 2016, after being found injured at the family home in the College Park East neighbourhood.
“He couldn’t even fight back. Couldn’t yell for help. My daughter was sleeping in the next room when this all happened,” Longman explained.
READ MORE: Crown to seek adult sentence for teen if found guilty of killing Saskatoon baby
The teen, who cannot be named under provisions of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, had escaped from Kilburn Hall Youth Centre the previous day. She was serving an open-custody sentence and deemed “safe enough to be in the community” by the court.
“Why would you do such a horrible thing to such an innocent child,” Longman said.
According to the Crown prosecutor if the accused is sentenced as an adult she’ll get life imprisonment with no parole eligibility for seven years. In comparison, if she’s sentenced as a youth then the teen will get a maximum of seven years; four of those will be served in custody and the other three in the community.
The teen is due back in court Nov. 10.
Jacqueline Wilson contributed to this story