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Kelowna teen pleaded guilty to manslaughter

Elijah-Iain Beauregard with B.C. musician Merkules.
Image Credit: FACEBOOK/Merkules

The teen who killed Eli Beauregard pleaded guilty to manslaughter Feb. 4, and will return to court this week as her case moves closer to sentencing, according to the BC Prosecution Service.

As a minor, the girl's identity is protected under the Youth Criminal Justice Act. She was arrested in February of 2020.

Beauregard was 16 when he died, June 27, 2019.

He had been living on Kelowna’s streets and finding refuge in the youth shelter on Richter Street for about three months when he was fatally stabbed near the downtown Bank of Montreal building.

His housing situation wasn't ideal but his dad Robyn-Iain Beauregard said in the immediate aftermath of his death that his son was content with the choices he was making.

“I just talked to him six days before this happened. I asked him; ‘do you need money, how are you doing? where are you staying?” Robyn said.

“He said ‘I’m at the youth shelter in downtown Kelowna. They’re feeding me and they’re clothing me, anything I want, it’s there.’”

Robyn told him, that as long as he was happy, healthy and everything was good, they’d just wait until he had a change of heart and was ready to come home. Eli was always welcome at home.

Robyn and Eli’s mom had already tried another tack. Eli’s mom had tried to chase him down and lure him back home, but Eli was having none of it. Robyn thought it was just a phase and would work itself out in due time.  Eli, he said, wasn't on drugs and other than ADHD, he had no diagnosed mental health issues.

He thinks Eli was just testing his boundaries like he had when he was young.

“I think a lot of teenagers are looking for freedom,” Robyn said.

“They want to get away from their home and explore and learn and become their own person, and I think the draw of the streets can be enough to throw away a lot of good things in their life.”

It’s a mistake he said he didn't want to see other kids make, knowing all too well how dangerous street life can be.

Robyn said at the time he was told that Eli was with some friends, who were homeless, and they were hanging out near the parking garage at BMO. That's when he was stabbed.


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