Family of Edmonton boy stabbed to death want seven teenagers charged to be punished as adults

The cousins of the Edmonton teenager who died after being stabbed outside his high school earlier this month want the seven minors who were charged to be punished as adults.

Karanveer Sahota, 16, was waiting for the bus outside McNally High School on April 8 when he was allegedly assaulted by seven teenagers. An autopsy determined he was stabbed in the chest. He died of his injuries in hospital April 15.

BACKGROUND: Teen dead after alleged assault at McNally High School

The seven people charged with second-degree murder ranged in age from 14 to 17.

Monica Binns and Shivleen Sidhu, two of Sahota’s cousins, want the accused charged as adults. The cousins addressed the media for the first time on Saturday.

“Just because they’re 16 doesn’t excuse their behaviour,” said Binns. “They were adults in that moment…

“They didn’t beat him with a school book.”

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Sidhu, who is an associate lawyer, says to consider the seven charged as children would be an injustice. She also wants their identities to be revealed, and not protected under the Youth Justice Act.

Sidhu says she wants them to be held accountable, and if laws need to be changed for that to happen, so be it.

“It is not enough to simply follow archaic precedent and legislation if this precedent and legislation does not do our victims justice,” she said, adding the charges were “only the first step.”

“We were relieved, but we know we have a long way ahead.”

Binns says the Sahota family has not been contacted by the parents of any of the seven accused, nor was an apology made.

“Instead, these parents have spent their time making excuses for their children and trying to protect them from the law. That is grossly wrong,” she said.

“Their behaviours and despicable actions are of no surprise to their parents, and if they had just acted sooner or intervened, this would have been prevented.”

Binns says she will always remember her cousin as a “sweetheart.”

“All his friends keep saying to us, out of all the people that this could have happened to in their friend group, he was the least deserving. He was always the one trying to calm everybody down. He was the strongest mentally and physically, and didn’t want to engage in these behaviours.

“So it just seems so unfair that he was the one God chose to take away from us.”