Alberta Court Hears Challenge to Youth Manslaughter Sentence

An Alberta appeals court heard arguments Tuesday that a youth convicted in the fatal stabbing of 18-year-old Danillo Canales Glenn was sentenced beyond the maximum allowable under law.

The offender, now 18 and identifiable only by court order, spent 25 months at the Calgary Young Offender Centre before Justice Eleanor Funk sentenced him last October. Funk ordered an additional 12 months in custody followed by six months under community supervision — totalling more than three years when combined with pre-trial detention.

Defence counsel Connor Sprague argued the sentence exceeded the Youth Criminal Justice Act maximum of three years (two in custody, one under supervision). "A day is a day," Sprague told a three-member Alberta Court of Appeal panel, noting that Funk credited only 18 months of the 25 months served before sentencing.

The attack occurred on September 5, 2023, when the offender and his adult brother jumped the boards of an outdoor rink where Canales Glenn and two friends were playing. One suspect pepper-sprayed the victim; the other stabbed him. The offender was 16 at the time and was found guilty of manslaughter.

Appeal Crown Tom Spark argued Funk was entitled to give less than one-for-one credit for remand time and could consider rehabilitation needs. "We cannot lose sight of what happened in this case. The appellant took a teenager's life," Spark said. "The appellant is in need of serious rehabilitation."

The older brother, also charged with manslaughter, has not yet been sentenced.