'Pure evil': Parents reject apology from teen's killer at sentencing hearing

A sentencing hearing is underway for the man responsible for the death of a 14-year-old boy who was given a large amount of drugs at a skate park – his final moments filmed and shared on social media.

Carson Crimeni was at the Walnut Grove skate park in Langley four years ago when he was given a massive amount of MDMA.

The 14-year-old was then seen in medical distress and mocked online. Bystanders took video and laughed while posting it to social media.

His accused pleaded guilty to manslaughter. He cannot be identified as he was a teenager at the time of the crime.

On Friday, he read a two-minute apology. He told the courtroom he felt “deeply ashamed” and that there wasn’t a day that went by that he didn’t think about Carson and his family.

“I take full responsibly for my actions … there is not a day that goes by that I am not haunted by Carson’s death,” he read in the courtroom.

But the apology felt disingenuous to Carson’s father Aron Crimeni, who said he doesn’t accept it.

“How can I? There’s no way I can. What he did to my son is pure evil,” said Aron Crimeni. “It sounded like a lot of shallow excuses and a lot of insincere apologies at the end of the day.”

Carson's mother Chantell Griffiths agreed the accused cannot be forgiven.

“I still don’t really forgive him. I just don’t, at this point. I don’t feel like there’s an excuse for what happened to my son,” said Griffiths.

The courtroom heard reference letters throughout the afternoon written by family members describing the accused as changing his life since Crimeni’s death.

The defense told the judge the young man has since quit dealing and doing illicit drugs, has been employed full-time for three years and hopes to further his education.

The Crown and defence have both asked for a three-year "custody and supervision order" in the case, though they differ on how long the accused should spend in jail. The defence would like to see 12 to 18 months in custody, with the rest of the sentence served as probation. The Crown is seeking two years, followed by one year on probation.

The judge has set a sentencing date for Oct. 26 at 10 a.m.