Teen accused of stabbing Devan Selvey to death handed 7 year sentence

A young teen has been handed a seven year sentence in the stabbing death of a Hamilton boy.

Devan Selvey was 14-years-old when he was stabbed to death outside of Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School on October 7, 2019.

The accused, who was also 14 at the time of the incident and cannot be named under terms of the Youth Criminal Justice Act, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder back in November.

The judge in the case credited the boy for two years time served. He will serve two more years in custody before serving the remaining three years in the community with supervision.

Brian Allen, a cousin of Devan’s mother Shari-Ann Bracci-Selvey, called the verdict a “slap in the face.”

“Words can’t describe what we’re all feeling right now, it’s like a slap in the face,” he told reporters outside the courtroom. “A life is worth two years, pretty much, is the bottom line. It’s disgusting.”

The sentence is the maximum allowed for second-degree murder under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, something that Allen says needs to change.

“Somebody really needs to change this Youth Criminal Justice Act and make kids accountable for what they do. If you do an adult crime, you know right from wrong, you’re going to pay for it,” he said.

In an agreed-upon statement of facts, Selvey approached a group of teens across the road from the high school after seeing someone he thought had taken his bicycle a month earlier. An argument broke out and someone sprayed bear mace, causing the group to disperse.

Selvey chased after them and, with his mother now driving alongside him, caught up with member of the group and while arguing with them, the accused came up from behind and stabbed Selvey in the upper back.

Selvey’s mother said her son was the target of bullying at the school and blamed the system for failing to protect him.

Files from The Canadian Press were used in this report