A Halifax man has pleaded guilty to manslaughter in the 2017 death of Benjamin Lokeny.
Troy Edward William Clayton, 54, was awaiting trial in Nova Scotia Supreme Court next month for second-degree murder but pleaded guilty to the lesser charge Feb. 11.
Clayton was scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday, when he appeared in Supreme Court by video from jail, but the hearing was adjourned until Friday.
Lokeny, a native of South Sudan who was known as Loka, was found with a life-threatening head injury at the corner of Buddy Daye and Gottingen streets in Halifax on July 20, 2017.
Police determined Lokeny, 51, had been assaulted by someone he knew. He was in a coma in hospital for more than a month and died Aug. 28.
A medical examiner performed an autopsy and, after further testing, ruled the death a homicide.
The case was added to the province’s Rewards for Major Unsolved Crimes Program in March 2019. Clayton was picked up by police three days later and has remained in custody.
A witness told The Chronicle Herald he saw a man punch Lokeny and strike his head against the pavement twice.
Lokeny lived in Halifax for about eight years. Friends said he worked hard as a dishwasher and then as an industrial cleaner and sent half his earnings home to his family in Sudan.
They said Lokeny was a happy person and a talented musician who regularly attended social events put on by the Halifax Sudanese community.
Christine Driscoll and Sarah Kirby are prosecuting the case, while Peter Planetta represents Clayton.
Lawyers will not have a joint recommendation for the judge but are not far apart on their sentencing positions, Driscoll said.
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Source link : https://www.thechronicleherald.ca/news/guilty-plea-entered-in-2017-halifax-homicide-of-sudanese-immigrant-556238/
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Publish date : 2021-02-26 01:06:44
