Teen gets youth sentence after pleading guilty to manslaughter

Youth was member of Terror Squad gang when he took part in killing young man

SASKATOON Watching his son die after being shot in the chest and beat with a fence board is a scar Dale Phillips says he will carry for the rest of his life.

Three strangers attacked Dylan Phillips, 26, and his mother, Jan, when they answered their back door around 10:30 p.m. on Oct. 14, 2016, according to an agreed statement of facts presented in Saskatoon youth court.

Dylan was shot but tried to fight back. A 15-year-old boy hit him with a gun and struck his mother when she intervened. The teen then started beating Dylan with a fence board and attacked Dale Phillips as he tried to save his son.

The youth and two adults were gang members sent on a “mission” to rob Dylan, who they were told was a marijuana dealer, at his home in the 1400 block of Avenue G North, Crown prosecutor Christy Pannell said during the youth’s sentencing hearing on Wednesday.

The teen, whose identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was originally charged with first-degree murder, committing murder for the benefit of a criminal organization and two counts of assault with a weapon.

Instead, he pleaded guilty to manslaughter. The facts state while he participated in the beating, he did not fire the gun.

Speaking to a report writer, the teen said he may not have gone to the house that night if he knew the victim’s parents were home. However, he has shown little remorse for the crime, the report states.

The boy has spent almost his entire childhood in a gang, becoming a Terror Squad member at the age of 10, Pannell said. He is a ward of the province who was under community supervision, but wasn’t living at an approved residence or going to school when he participated in the deadly attack, she told court.

The Crown and defence jointly recommended a three-year youth sentence, comprised of two years secure custody and one year community supervision. Judge Marilyn Gray imposed the sentence.

The teen will be in the intensive, rehabilitative custody and supervision (IRCS) program, a sentencing option for youth who commit serious offences and are diagnosed with a psychological disorder.

Pannell said the boy has fetal alcohol spectrum disorder (FASD) and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and is a high-risk to violently reoffend. However, he has been working with mentors through the Saskatoon Tribal Council and STR8 UP, an organization that helps people leave gangs.

Through victim impact statements, Dylan’s mother, father and sister urged the teen to turn his life around.

“The court has dealt you a second chance at life, but do you believe in yourself?” Phillips wrote.

He described his son as a compassionate person who offered his home to those in need of a bed, food or a computer.

Dylan’s sister, Kendra, said her brother was known for his laughter and inappropriate jokes. He wanted to start a business, travel and have a family.

“There was so much left for him to do. His life was just beginning when it ended,” she said.

Shaylin Sutherland-Kayseas, 18, and Trent Raymond Southwind, 25, are charged with first-degree murder, committing murder for the benefit of a criminal organization and two counts of assault with a weapon in connection with Dylan’s death.

The court has dealt you a second chance at life, but do you believe in yourself?