KAMLOOPS, B.C. — A man found guilty of killing a romantic rival in a schoolyard in Salmon Arm, B.C., has been sentenced as a youth.
The man, who is now 25, was 16 years old when he shot and killed 22-year-old Tyler Myers on Nov. 21, 2008.
Prosecutors applied to have the man sentenced as an adult, but B.C. Supreme Court Justice Sheri Donegan ruled on Wednesday that he had been manipulated into committing the crime by his then-girlfriend.
The court heard that both the killer and Myers were in romantic relationships with a 17-year-old girl at the time of the murder.
The trial heard that the girl and the killer devised a plan to lure Myers to a schoolyard with the intent of scaring him and the killer shot Myers three times with a borrowed rifle.
The killer, who cannot be named under the Youth Criminal Justice Act, was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury last June.
The girl pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and was sentenced as an adult to a life sentence with no possibility of parole for seven years.
In delivering her sentence, Donegan said she was convinced the man "is in the place he is today because his life intersected" with his ex-girlfriend's.
The judge said the man has been described as a "model prisoner" and is at low risk to re-offend.
He has been in custody since his arrest in November 2012 and will now serve another six years in prison.
Myers' mother said she is satisfied with the sentence.
"Like the judge said, she believes he’s repentant. I believe he’s repentant — and now there’s hope. He has a ray of hope to prove to society that he can become a better person," Barbara Myers said outside the court.
