Dispute over pants led to death, drugs blamed
By Dean Pritchard, WINNIPEG SUN
An argument over a pair of pants sparked a fight that ended in the death of 30-year-old Delmar Young.
Young died Nov. 18, 2007, after suffering a single stab wound to the heart.
Kyle McKay, Young’s cousin, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
“I don’t want this to sound like an argument over pants — it’s an argument over attitude,” said Young’s lawyer Greg Brodsky at a sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Court heard McKay, then 21, and his younger brother were visiting their sister at her apartment. Among the many people present was McKay’s uncle, wearing his younger brother’s pants.
Crown attorney Mark Kantor said the man had taken the pants a week earlier, without the young man’s knowledge.
The young man demanded his pants back, Kantor said.
“During the argument, sides were taken. Kyle sided with (his brother), while Delmar sided with (the uncle),” Kantor said.
Six men became embroiled in the dispute and were asked to leave the apartment. The argument continued outside where Young was stabbed once in the heart.
Brodsky argued McKay stabbed Young in self-defence as Young and another man advanced on him.
Relatives testified at a preliminary hearing McKay came to their home following the stabbing and said “he might have killed his cousin by accident, he didn’t mean it. He said he was defending his little brother.”
McKay was originally charged with second-degree murder. Kantor said conflicting witness evidence and evidence of provocation and intoxication were considered in accepting a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Young’s mother cried as she told court the killing would not have happened if Young and McKay had not been drinking or doing drugs.
Alcohol and drugs are vile enemies, she said.
“I know that forgiveness is the only way to live again,” she said. “I want Kyle to forgive himself so he can have a life after this.”
The Crown is seeking a sentence of 10 years in prison; the defence, six years.
Justice Joan McKelvey adjourned sentencing to March 12.
By Dean Pritchard, WINNIPEG SUN
An argument over a pair of pants sparked a fight that ended in the death of 30-year-old Delmar Young.
Young died Nov. 18, 2007, after suffering a single stab wound to the heart.
Kyle McKay, Young’s cousin, has pleaded guilty to manslaughter.
“I don’t want this to sound like an argument over pants — it’s an argument over attitude,” said Young’s lawyer Greg Brodsky at a sentencing hearing Tuesday.
Court heard McKay, then 21, and his younger brother were visiting their sister at her apartment. Among the many people present was McKay’s uncle, wearing his younger brother’s pants.
Crown attorney Mark Kantor said the man had taken the pants a week earlier, without the young man’s knowledge.
The young man demanded his pants back, Kantor said.
“During the argument, sides were taken. Kyle sided with (his brother), while Delmar sided with (the uncle),” Kantor said.
Six men became embroiled in the dispute and were asked to leave the apartment. The argument continued outside where Young was stabbed once in the heart.
Brodsky argued McKay stabbed Young in self-defence as Young and another man advanced on him.
Relatives testified at a preliminary hearing McKay came to their home following the stabbing and said “he might have killed his cousin by accident, he didn’t mean it. He said he was defending his little brother.”
McKay was originally charged with second-degree murder. Kantor said conflicting witness evidence and evidence of provocation and intoxication were considered in accepting a guilty plea to the lesser charge of manslaughter.
Young’s mother cried as she told court the killing would not have happened if Young and McKay had not been drinking or doing drugs.
Alcohol and drugs are vile enemies, she said.
“I know that forgiveness is the only way to live again,” she said. “I want Kyle to forgive himself so he can have a life after this.”
The Crown is seeking a sentence of 10 years in prison; the defence, six years.
Justice Joan McKelvey adjourned sentencing to March 12.