Teens charged in Elk Island Youth Ranch attempted murder get court dates

Trial dates have been set for two teens charged in the attempted murder of a worker at the Elk Island Youth Ranch.

The 14- and 15-year-old cannot be named because they are minors. Both appeared in Fort Saskatchewan court on Wednesday; one in person and the other by CCTV. The pair remains in custody.

READ MORE: Alberta changes Elk Island Youth Ranch’s licence to ‘conditional status’ 

The lawyer for one of the teens set a pretrial conference date of Nov. 22 and set trial dates of Jan. 29 to Feb. 1, 2018. He said 28 witnesses would be called.

A representative for the lawyer of the second teen set different dates – the pretrial conference will be held Sept. 27 and the trial will take place Dec. 18 to 20, 2017.

The family of the victim, Heather Vanderzee, 60, were also present in the courtroom and leaned in as both teens appeared.

RELATED: Worker beaten at Alberta youth home says every bone in her face was broken

Vanderzee was attacked in February at the youth facility northeast of Edmonton. The 60-year-old was stabbed with a knife in her cheek and said there was an attempt to cut her throat.

She has had several surgeries since the attack. Her family told Global News, during one of the teens’ last appearances, Vanderzee could not bear to see her alleged attackers face-to-face.

READ MORE: Family of attacked Elk Island youth worker felt ‘anger’ seeing teens charged with attempted murder

The defence lawyers and Vanderzee’s family declined to comment after Wednesday’s court appearance.