Warning: This story contains some graphic details that may be disturbing.

The young man convicted of manslaughter in the November 2022 death of Mehakpreet Sethi was scheduled to be sentenced Thursday (Jan. 9), but a medical emergency in the gallery prompted an adjournment of sentencing until another day. 

Sethi, 18, of Surrey, died after being stabbed outside Tamanawis Secondary School (12600 66 Ave.) in Newton on Nov. 22, 2022. Witnesses identified the suspect, who then was located and taken into custody by the Surrey RCMP later that day.  The BC Prosecution Service charged him on Nov. 20, 2023 with second-degree murder, just two days shy of the one-year anniversary of Sethi鈥檚 death. 

On Oct. 23, 2024, he pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of manslaughter. The accused was a minor at the time of his arrest and will be sentenced as a youth under the so his name can not be released. 

Before the adjournment on Thursday, the Crown entered their submission before Judge Mark Jett茅 in Surrey provincial court.  

Both Crown prosecutors Catherine Rose and Franklin Shiu, along with the defence Simon Buck, entered a joint submission for time served plus one day in custody and a supervision order of two years minus a day, which would be served in the community. 

On Thursday (Jan. 9), Rose said, "(The accused) is voluntarily pleading to committing the manslaughter of Mehakpreet Sethi. The accused understands that this plea is an admission of the essential elements of this offence, that (the accused) caused the death of Mr. Sethi by means of an unlawful act as described below, and that the unlawful act was objectively dangerous and likely to cause bodily harm to another person." 

Rose said the accused's early guilty plea, which came without scheduling a trial, "deserves significant mitigation." The accused also has family and community support and was not the "instigator of the altercation."

"The sentence must promote (the accused's) rehabilitation and reintegration into society, and it must be consistent with the greater dependency of young persons and the reduced level of maturity," Rose said. 

The Crown said the situation was closer to self-defence than it was to murder.

The Crown presented a brief statement of facts that outlined the events leading up to Sethi's killing. The day before Sethi was killed, he found out that a female close to him felt disrespected by the accused. 

"Mr. Sethi had never met or spoken with the accused. Mr. Sethi arranged with his friend (JS) to confront (the accused) the next day at Tamanawis," Rose said. Sethi told his friend and the female that he had just wanted to speak with the accused during the lunch break. 

The next day, on Nov. 22, at around 11:50 a.m., Sethi drove to the school in his white Dodge Ram pickup truck with four other people.  Sethi and JS got out of the truck. 

The accused overheard Sethi asking where he was and identified himself. 

A group of six to 10 males, including the accused, approached Sethi in the corner of the parking lot. 

"There were words exchanged between the two groups. The altercation then turned physical, and a member of the (accused)'s group pushed Mr. Sethi," Rose said. "At some point, Mr. Sethi either pushed or grabbed (the accused)."

At the time, the accused believed Sethi was trying to take him to his car and possibly kidnap him. 

 "(The accused) then pulled a knife from his pocket and stabbed Mr. Sethi once in the lower chest area." The knife "entered the subxiphoid chest and perforated the right ventricle of the heart." The accused fled the area in his car.

9-1-1 was called, and despite life-saving measures by first responders, Sethi was pronounced dead at the hospital. 

At 12:10 p.m. on Nov. 22, the accused messaged his friend on SnapChat and said, "Bro, I just shanked the kid in the parking lot. You're gonna have to meet me later or smt, bro, I gotta hideout." 

At 12:32 p.m., Surrey RCMP arrested the accused and searched his home. At that time, they located and seized in his bedside table a black folding pocket knife with a three-inch blade. Forensic testing confirmed Sethi's blood was on the knife and the accused's clothing. 

Dr. Dylan Gatner, a registered psychologist, did a psychological assessment of the accused's risk for violence and re-offending in the community.

Gatner found the accused recognized the negative impact of his actions. 

"(Sethi) didn't deserve to lose his life and I think about how his parents feel. If it took my life, that would affect my parents," the accused said during his assessment with Gatner. 

When talking about the incident, the accused told Gatner he felt "really stressed."

"Yes, it had a big toll. It was self-defence, and no one was supposed to lose their life and whatever went down was wrong," he said 

Gatner found the likelihood of the accused engaging in physical violence in the future to be low to moderate, but if violence were to happen, his risk for serious physical violence would increase to moderate to high. He also highlighted that the accused's "psychosocial maturity" may improve as he gets older. 

Gatner found that the accused's risks could be managed in the community if there were restrictions and management strategies in place. 

The accused will appear before the judicial case manager on Monday (Jan. 13) to schedule a date for sentencing. The defence will enter their submissions, and victim impact statements by Sethi's mother and two of his siblings will be read before Judge Jett茅 sentences the accused.