A preliminary hearing is underway in Hamilton for a teenage boy who’s been charged with first-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Hamilton teenager Devan Selvey.
Devan was 14 when he was killed last October outside of Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School, where he was a Grade 9 student.
Two teenagers were arrested in connection with the murder — a boy who was the same age as Devan at the time, and an 18-year-old.
The 18-year-old was initially also charged with first-degree murder, but that was reduced to assault with a weapon and administering a noxious substance before eventually being reduced to unauthorized possession of a weapon.
He pleaded guilty to that charge in August and was given a suspended sentence, along with 15 months probation.
Neither teen can be named due to a publication ban.
The preliminary hearing for the younger teen — who is now 15 — began on Thursday with a slight delay due to a 20-person limit on the number of people in the courtroom at John Sopinka Courthouse.
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Some family and friends of Devan were not allowed to watch the proceedings in person and were directed to watch via a Zoom link.
It’s expected that the preliminary hearing will run through November and into the middle of December, which coincides with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board hearing from a bullying review panel.
That panel, which will present a report and a list of recommendations to the school board on Dec. 16, was put together in response to Devan’s murder.
Devan’s mother, Shari-Ann Selvey, said she repeatedly tried to get help for her son who was frequently bullied at school before he was fatally stabbed.
–With files from Don Mitchell, Global News
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