Sentencing date moved up for Hamilton teen who murdered Devan Selvey

The youth who pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the fatal stabbing of Devan Selvey has had his sentencing date moved up.

At the end of Friday’s one-day sentencing hearing, Judge Andrew Goodman said he needed more time to write out “cogent, comprehensive, and sage reasons” for his sentence and due to jury trials starting back up and court delays, the first date he had available was months away.

Several of Devan’s family members who were sitting in the courtroom at the time cried out in dismay when they heard a proposed April date.

Justice Goodman apologized and acknowledged that if something opened up the sentencing could be moved to an earlier date.

On Monday afternoon, crown attorney Brett Moodie confirmed in an email to Global News that the sentencing was moved to Friday, March 11.

Devan’s mother previously told reporters outside of the courthouse that she was overwhelmed by the prolonged wait to learn the fate of her son’s killer.

“It’s emotionally draining, every time we go in the courtroom, we have to hear it over and over again,” said Shari-Ann Selvey on Friday. “I just want it to be done with.”

The crown and defence have jointly asked for a sentence of seven years, which is the maximum for second-degree murder under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.