The man accused of killing 19-year-old Bhavkiran “Kiran” Dhesi in 2017 has pleaded guilty to manslaughter and indecently interfering with or offering an indignity to human remains.
Harjot Singh Deo’s lawyer told the B.C. Supreme Court in Vancouver on Tuesday that his client was with Dhesi and in possession of a loaded, prohibited and restricted handgun that went off, accidentally causing her death.
He said Deo then took steps to conceal her remains.
Sentencing will take place at a later date.
Four members of Deo’s family — including his mother, brother and sister — were also charged with accessory after the fact to murder.
The brother, 25-year-old Gurvinder Singh Deo, and 22-year-old Talwinder Singh Khun Khun, have also been charged with interference with a dead body. Khun Khun has been described as an extended family member.
Their trial is expected to run three to six weeks and is set to begin May 30.
Lawyers say an agreed statement of facts is still coming together in terms of what led up to Dhesi’s death.
Her body was found in a burned-out SUV near 24 Avenue and 187 Street in Surrey in August 2017.
She was a student at Kwantlen Polytechnic University and had received a kidney transplant just a few months before.