The teenager convicted of beating Karim Meskine to death with a baseball bat three years ago should be sentenced as an adult, the Crown argued at a hearing Tuesday.
The victim was brutally bludgeoned at a New Westminster SkyTrain station in December 2013 and spent the following days, including his 19th birthday, comatose in hospital before succumbing to his injuries.
Police said Meskine was attacked at random, his young killer having been intent on robbing someone of their cellphone.
The teenager, who can't be named because of his age, was found guilty of second-degree murder in June, and would be subject to an automatic life sentence if prosecutors' request is granted.
That would be of some comfort to Meskine's mother, Julie L'Heureux, who submitted a letter to the judge calling for the maximum allowable prison term.
"I really don't care if he's unhappy for the rest of his life," L'Heureux said outside court. "My son is dead."
If the youth is sentenced as an adult, Crown asked that he receive parole eligibility after seven years.
His defence is pushing back, however, arguing he should be sentenced as a young offender, which would make the maximum allowable prison term four years.
He would also have access to federal youth rehabilitation programs, which wouldn't be available under an adult sentence.
The teenager, who was 16 years old at the time of the murder, has already spent three years in pre-trial custody, though there is no automatic credit for time served under the Youth Criminal Justice Act.
No matter what happens to Meskine's killer, L'Heureux said her family's lives have been irreparably altered, and that her grief hasn't subsided at all in the years since their tragedy.
"We are broken hearted for the rest of our lives," she said. "Time doesn’t help. It doesn't heal."
With a report from CTV Vancouver's Nafeesa Karim
