The mother of Hannah Leflar addressed the courtroom Friday, and asked the judge to “have no mercy” on the teen responsible for killing her daughter.
Janet Leflar could be heard choking back tears as she read her victim impact statement to the court.
In it, she described the horrible pain her family had been through these past two years since Hannah’s death in Jan. 2015.
“She was my only child… I will never know my daughter as an adult,” she said, reading from her written victim impact statement.
Janet said she now suffers from severe depression and anxiety. She has been unable to work since Hannah’s death and had to “give up a career I spent 12 years building.”
She told the courtroom she had to hire professional cleaners to clean “the blood soaked carpet” in their master bedroom. Janet said she sleeps in another room in the basement.
“I hope to see my daughter again. I hope to hold her again. I hope to say sorry for not protecting her,” Janet told the courtroom.
“Where she is, you won’t be going,” Janet said, looking straight at her daughter’s killer before telling him to “burn in hell.”
A total of 12 victim impact statements were read in court.
Hannah’s father Jeff and stepmother Lori also spoke about their grief.
Lori spoke of the pain of never seeing the 16-year-old get married, have a child and be a mother.
“You are not supposed to bury your daughter,” Lori said through tears.
She called it a senseless murder and said Hannah is on their mind when they wake up, and at night when they go to bed.
“It seems like a very, very bad dream that will hopefully end as soon as we wake up,” Lori described.
“He has given Hannah a death sentence, and us, a life sentence.”
Throughout the 12 victim impact statements read aloud in court, Hannah’s killer displayed little emotion. He looked onward, mostly avoiding eye contact with the courtroom.
At one point, he wiped his eyes and two tears fell down his cheek as he listened on.
Hannah’s grandparents also described the sorrow of losing Hannah, describing it as being “tortured of the horrible death that took her,” said a written statement, read aloud by the crown.
The statement also spoke of how Hannah wrote them silly little notes, and “they try to be strong” but it’s difficult.
Correctional Service of Canada
Earlier on Friday, the crown called their witness from Corrections Services of Canada, Trina Debler to the stand.
The reply witness was in response to Dr. Nicholaichuk’s testimony that there would be zero services available for the youth if he was sentenced to an adult prison.
The program manager for a Saskatchewan penitentiary offered up a different viewpoint; saying there’s a variety of different programs to fit the needs.
Their multi-target program would address anti-social personality and behaviours; addressing what the person would be thinking, feeling and doing.
Debler also spoke about their segregation intervention program – one officer works one on one with an offender to help build their skills.
On psychopathy, Justice Pritchard said she wondered if there’s a possibility for a second psychopathy test to be done on the youth, adding the results were so opposite.
The crown argued that it wasn’t necessary, and it isn’t a mitigating factor in the youth’s penalty.
Justice Pritchard decided she would only consider it if both counsel agreed to a second psychopathy test.
With files from Jules Knox.
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