Devan Selvey's mom hopes family can 'start healing' after son's killer pleads guilty

The day after a Hamilton teenager pleaded guilty to fatally stabbing her son, Devan Selvey's mom took tothe trails he once loved to hikeso she could walk and reflect.

"I just hope after sentencing that our family can find some peace and start healing," Shari-Ann Slevey wrote in a text message to CBC on Tuesday.

Devan was killed outside Sir Winston Churchill Secondary School on Oct. 7, 2019. He was 14.

On Monday, just over two years later,a teenwho can't be identified under a court-ordered publication ban, said he had stabbed Devan once in the back.

The 16-year-old pleadedguilty to second-degree murder.

Selvey was with Devan when he was stabbed.

She sobbed in the courtroom on Monday while the homicide was detailed in an agreed statement of facts.

"I just have to say that some sort of justice was done for Devan," she wrote in a brief statement, adding "I'm relieved that the youth finally admitted to what he did."

On the day of the stabbing, the teen who pleaded guilty heard yelling and believed his older brother could be in danger, so he drew a knife with a 15-centimetre blade and stabbed Devan once in the right, upper back,court heard.

He said that even though he believed his brother was in trouble, his actions were "unreasonable" and that when he stabbed Devan he intended to cause "serious bodily harm he knew was likely to cause death," according to the agreed upon facts.

HWDSB chair calls death 'senseless, tragic'

Both of the teens were Grade 9 students at the Hamilton high school, but court heard that before the day of the stabbing they were"strangers" who did not know each other.

Following Devan's death, his mother said he had beenbullied and that the school had notdone enough to protect him.

The stabbingsparked conversations around bullying in the city and across Canada.

The Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board (HWDSB) assembled a report onbullying, which showed it was a problem across schools in the public board, anda "culture of fear" was preventing people from reporting incidents or taking action.

HWDSB Chair Dawn Dankosaid on Wednesday that Devan's legacy will "live on" through the recommendations of that report.

"The guilty plea demonstrates the senseless, tragic and untimely death of a young student," she wrote. "Devan will always be remembered."

Selveyacknowledgedthe Crown attorneys who worked on the case, as well as the detectives who investigated the homicide, thanking them for their "compassion" and updates while it worked its way through the court system.

A date for sentencing has not been set.

Court is expectedto meet again on Dec. 17 to schedule when it will take place.

In the meantime, Selvey said she plannedto visit one of the places Devan loved most.

"I'm going to spend some time on the trails and reflect."