The argument over whether a Kitchener teen convicted of killing 49-year-old Larry McDonald should be sentenced as an adult continued Tuesday.
The Crown wants the young male, who was 16 at the time of the murder in 2010, sentenced as an adult.
However, the defence is fighting that request, and says it may call in a psychiatrist to argue the case.
McDonald was stabbed to death in his apartment building on Green Valley Drive after he tried to intervene in an argument between the teen and his girlfriend.
The male pleaded guilty to second degree murder in April, and legal wrangling over the sentencing has been ongoing since then.
Defence lawyer Craig Parry says “The Crown confirmed on the record today it’s continuing its application to have this young person sentenced as an adult.”
The main issue is that as a youth the teen would face a maximum sentence of seven years behind bars.
But as an adult, Parry says, “The sentence for second degree murder is a sentence of life imprisonment. The only question then is when the young person gets paroled.”
The judge must still review a pre-sentence report, a biography of the youth and a psychiatric assessment.
However, the defence says it may involve another psychiatrist in the case.
